


Peter Parker's plan

by Eowima



Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Gen, I need softness and fluffiness in my life right now, Idiots in Love, Is it a slow burn if you write/read it fast enough?, Kinda?, No Mysterio, Not Spider-Man: Far From Home Compliant, Slow Burn, idiots to lovers, just Peter on a trip with his friends, no Elementals, so I wrote this, this is just a big pile of fluff, trying to tell MJ that he likes her, what if, where everything is fine and nothing bad happens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:42:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 51,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23672503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eowima/pseuds/Eowima
Summary: Peter Parker has a plan.He wants to take the girl he likes to the top of the Eiffel tower, give her a necklace, and tell her how he feels. So that's what he's gonna do.Or: no Elementals, no Mysterio, only Peter Parker on his summer trip to Europe trying to tell MJ that he likes her, and hoping she actually likes him back.(I need softness and fluffiness in my life right now, everything is going crazy in the world, so how about some soft, happy, fluffy Spideychelle to think about something else?)
Relationships: Michelle Jones/Peter Parker
Comments: 361
Kudos: 314





	1. "I have a plan."

**Author's Note:**

> I really need this right now, with the world going completely haywire, so I wrote this, and it helped because it's just two idiots in love, and that's always nice. Hopefully it can help some of you guys as well!  
> Stay safe and take care of yourselves everyone ♥

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: a plan, a blurted out question, and an unexpected flight buddy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have fun, presenting to you: shameless fluff! :D♥

**Chapter 1**

**"I have a plan."**

Peter Parker has a plan.

In his opinion, it’s a pretty good plan. Solid. With room to adapt when – not if, he’s learned his lessons – things don’t go, well, as _planned_. He knows MJ will definitely not let him go through with it the way he’s planning to, and he knows things are probably gonna get messy – mostly because he knows perfectly that he’ll end up being awkward or dorkish or whatever. But he’s glad he has a plan. He doesn’t usually plan much in his life, and he’s happy he planned this in particular. He doesn’t want to mess things up.

He wants this to work very, very much.

“I have a plan,” he tells Ned the day before they leave for Europe. He’s excited. He’s even made a list – well, two lists, one for the Plan, and another one for all the things he has to do before they leave. May told him it’s a good way to organize his thoughts, and he took that advice at heart. “Okay, first, I’m gonna sit next to MJ on the flight. Second, I’m gonna buy a dual headphone adapter and watch movies with her the whole time. Three, when we go to Venice, Venice is super famous for making stuff out of glass right?”

“True,” Ned agrees.

“So I’m gonna buy her a black Dahlia necklace because her favorite flower is the black Dahlia because of, well…”

“The murder,” Ned finishes for him, like it’s pretty obvious.

“The murder,” Peter nods, glancing at MJ who’s sitting not so far from them sketching on an art pad. She’s not paying attention to them at all, which is good. “Four, when we get to Paris, I’m gonna take her to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and give her the necklace. And then five, I’m gonna tell her how I feel.” A small pause, to catch his breath. He’s excited. Not scared at all. “And then six hopefully she tells me she feels the same way.”

That’s the tricky part, he thinks as he peeks at her again, but somehow he’s pretty confident that it could work if he manages to roughly go through with this plan. He’s pretty sure that she likes him at least a little, and hopefully a grand gesture like this one can tip the balance towards liking him a little more. Key word being hopefully. To be honest, he’s trying not to think too much about what she’s gonna say, to avoid any kind of panic attacks or something. This is just nerve-wracking. It was kinda easier to accidentally ask Liz out for Homecoming.

But planning is good, he reminds himself. It’s good, makes things easier. _Don’t overthink this_ , May told him. He’s trying his best. Ned is not really helping. He tries to make him not do it, arguing that being bachelors in Europe is so much more interesting. Peter gets his point, kinda, but he points out – uselessly, Ned knows this obviously because Peter is really bad at keeping secrets to himself, except of course that big red and blue spandex one – that he really likes MJ, and that he really wants to do this.

Ned doesn’t really seem on board with the whole thing, but Peter knows he’ll follow through with it still. He knows Ned since they were 10, and he’s always been very supportive. When MJ stops by their table, Peter hastily closes his notebook to hide his list, and then the conversation becomes quite confusing and awkward until MJ leaves and he feels like he can breathe again. He really needs to work on his nerves when she’s around if he wants to pull this off.

He talks about it a lot with May that night, after the charity party they’re organizing in Brooklyn for people displaced by the Blip – they’ve been doing it for months now, he’s very proud of his aunt. She coaches him through his plan, giving him advice and stressing multiple times that he just needs to be himself and trust his instincts.

Soon enough he’s on his way to the airport with May the next late afternoon, and he’s as excited as he is terrified really. He says goodbye, and as he walks towards the rendezvous point, MJ catches up to him and his heart starts beating too fast in his chest instantly.

“’Sup dork,” she greets him with a smirk, and he smiles back, sliding his sweaty hands in his pockets. They walk in silence for a couple of minute, as he tries to calm down the storm of thoughts in his brain and focus on getting on with the _Plan_.

“Hey, so um, who do you plan on sitting next to in the plane?” Peter finally asks, glancing at her shyly. They’re almost there, he can see Mr Harrington, Mr Dell and a small group of people from their class waiting next to the security booth. This is his chance. Why does it feel like he’s about to die of embarrassment?

“What’s it to you?” she retorts with narrowed eyes, slowing down her pace.

“Um nothing I uh, I was just asking –” he stutters, panicking instantly, unconsciously matching her steps.

Her suspicious frown morphs into another smirk and she lets out a snort. “I’m messing with you, Parker.”

“Oh,” he sighs with relief, despite himself, and MJ meets his gaze with a playful one that has his heart do a back flip in his chest. They look at each other for a couple of seconds, and then look away at the same time. Peter is mortified.

“I don’t know,” she tells him with a shrug, “Betty, probably. Unless, I don’t know…” She’s hesitating, looking at her feet, her hands clenched on the straps of her backpack, and somehow Peter feels like he’s probably looking exactly like that too, which is a very weird observation. Because it means that, just like him, she’s _nervous_. And that’s not something his brain seems capable to analyze right now, apart from the flashing question in his mind ‘ _what the hell is happening?_ ’.

“Do you want to sit together?” he blurts out suddenly, and she glances at him in surprise. “I mean, with me, I mean, next to me?” Great, now his cheeks are burning. He forces himself to hold her gaze nonetheless. They’ve stopped walking, standing a few yards away from their group. MJ is staring at him insistently, like she’s trying to read his mind or something, and he kind of wishes he could read _her_ mind as well. He’s never felt more nervous in his entire life before.

Then MJ looks down, and he can see the faintest blush on her cheeks right before she looks up again and nods: “Okay. See you then, loser.”

**x**

MJ walks away as soon as the words have escaped her mouth, not even daring to look back and see Peter’s reaction. Her heart is beating so hard and so fast in her chest it’s pretty much the only thing she can hear right now. She makes her presence known to her teachers, nodding when they ask if she has her passport ready, then she goes to stand next to Betty Brant, acknowledging her with a small nod. She doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t think she could, even if she tried.

Because her mind is racing right now, as she tries to grasp what exactly just happened. Did she just agree to sit next to _Peter Parker_ in the plane? Even more confusing, did _Peter Parker_ really just ask her if she wanted to sit with him? To sit with him for the nine-hour flight they’re about to board? What the hell is happening?

She quickly peeks at the dork, who’s currently showing Harrington his passport and flight information. She cannot believe any of this is real. Maybe she’s hallucinating. That would actually make more sense. Why would Parker want to sit next to her when he can sit with his all-time best friend Ned Leeds and play whatever video game the two dorks are into at the moment? It really doesn’t make any sense.

Speaking of Ned, Peter’s now standing next to him, talking animatedly to him about something. He’s smiling with such enthusiasm that her heart skips a beat at this sight, for no reason at all. Oh this is bad. What has she gotten herself into?

“Hey MJ!”

Brad Davis. He’s looking at her with the usual bright smile on his face. She wonders if he’s a teeth model for those toothpaste commercials. He’s been talking to her a lot lately. She doesn’t get it. “’Sup Brad.”

“Hey, so I was thinking, maybe you and I could sit together during the flight?” he asks tentatively, and MJ winces internally. She doesn’t like where this is going.

“Yeah no sorry I uh,” she hesitates, and then for some reason she panics just a little because of the whole _situation_. Which is dumb, because clearly there’s nothing to be nervous about. “I already have a flight buddy.”

Mental face-palm. _Flight buddy?!_ Oh this stinks. It’s bad, real bad. Luckily Brad doesn’t say anything else but a breathless ‘right’ and leaves her alone. She really needs to get a grip, this is getting ridiculous. She’s coaching herself through deep breaths to try and calm down a little, when Betty nudges her in the rib and she turns to her with a frown.

“A _flight buddy_?” she asks with raised eyebrows, and MJ pinches the bridge of her nose with an exasperated sigh. “So I’m guessing you’re not sitting with me then?” MJ shrugs at that, avoiding her friend’s eyes, and Betty sighs. “Who are you sitting with?”

“Um, Peter?” MJ hates this. Why does it feel so nerve-wracking? It doesn’t even mean anything. This is stupid. So stupid. She hates this so much.

Betty looks at her for a minute, eyes narrowed in a suspicious frown. “Alright,” she says after a while, “I must say I didn’t pin you for that kind of girl, ditching me for a _boy_ , really Michelle Jones?” Her tone is judgmental, but there’s a little something in her eyes that tells MJ that she’s teasing her, and her cheeks feel instantly like they’re burning. “Who am I supposed to sit next to now?” Betty adds with a false whine of self-pity.

“Um, I don’t know, Ned?” MJ suggests, trying to get back to her witty ways but ultimately failing because she’s still so nervous about this entire thing. Which is still dumb by the way. “He’s nice.”

Betty glares at her. “You owe me now, Jones.”

MJ bites down a sarcastic ‘owe you what’ and just shrugs again. She doesn’t like the implication behind her owing anything to anyone, especially because she didn’t even ask for anything in the first place. But then again, she really wants to sit next to Peter on the plane. You know, obviously because she’s curious about this boy. There’s something off about him, there’s always been, especially with the entire Washington monument thing during their Sophomore year. She’s pretty sure he’s Spider-man. Make it at least 67% sure. So yeah, that’s the only reason why she wants to sit with him in the first place. Curiosity. No ulterior motives. At all.

Why else would she be interested in Peter boring Parker anyway?

Oh wow she’s getting confused again. She really needs to get a grip.


	2. Nervous?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: some chemtrails conspiracy theory talk, taking-off and THE DUAL HEADPHONE ADAPTER LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!  
> First off, thanks to all of you for the kudos!! With AO3 not counting Guests views the hits have significantly dropped these past few weeks, but I still see your kudos guys so thanks a lot for these, they're deeply appreciated!  
> For the fist time in my life, I have multiple chapters ready to be posted for a fic, and it's been super hard LOL I originally told myself I'd wait a week to post chapter 2, and then guess what? I DIDN'T.  
> Here you have it guys, enjoy!

**Chapter 2**

**"Nervous?"**

“Hey dork.”

“Hey again,” Peter smiles to MJ, mouth extremely dry. They’re currently boarding the plane, which is definitely exciting. He got a little worried she might change her mind so as soon as Mr Harrington said it was time, he rushed to be first in the queue – earning himself some unpleasant comments from Flash, but he’s learned to ignore those. He made his way to his seat, and waited for her standing there, while the others looked for their seats too. Obviously she has no regards for his nerves though, because she’s the second to last of their group getting in – tailed by Brad Davis, it's not that he doesn't like him but ugh. He really should have seen that coming though, he thinks. “Do you prefer the aisle or…?”

“I don’t care really,” MJ shrugs, and before he can say anything else she walks past him and sits in the middle seat, sliding her bag under it. She looks up at him, and he just stands there like an idiot for a full minute before someone nudges him in the back and asks him to move.

Peter then hurriedly sits, meeting Ned’s grumpy eyes a couple of rows in front of him. His best friend wasn’t as excited as Peter when he told him MJ said yes, and when he realized he’d have to sit next to Betty Brant he almost got him to change his mind. “Please, I don’t even know her! I mean I don’t even know if she likes _Beast Slayer_ _s_ at all!” Peter had reassured him, telling him that Betty was a really nice person – which she was, Peter wasn’t lying. He’d been so relieved – and excited – when Ned had finally reluctantly agreed.

He’s following the Plan. This is good.

His heart is pounding in his chest and his mouth is as dry as sand from nerves though, so he’s not so sure anymore, but still. He smiles at MJ again, and she just stares at him with an inquisitive eyebrow raise that sends jitters into his stomach. This is going to be a very long flight if he can’t relax at all. Deep breaths should help, he decides.

“Nervous?” MJ is looking at him curiously now, and his cheeks feel a little hot. He lets out a chuckle that he wishes could pass as careless and cool, but instead sounds exactly like he feels, which is not nervous, but rather extremely nervous. “Is it your first time on a plane?” MJ asks after a while, probably because he didn’t answer since he was too busy being an idiotic dork. Oh how he hates his social ineptitude around her.

“Um, no, no it’s not,” he answers, clearing his throat and unconsciously dodging the backpack of someone walking down the aisle looking for their seat. He’s not lying. He distinctly remembers his first time on a plane. How could he forget the distant days he’d fought Captain America and a bunch of other heroes in an airport in Germany? Those were the days, he thinks, feeling like an old spider-grandpa all of a sudden. Why is he being such an idiot? _Focus_.

“What about you?” He asks, a little worried that she’d ask where he went. He doesn’t think he can lie to MJ. Well, not to her face at least. He can lie by omission, he thinks, about Spider-Man obviously. He doesn’t like it either though.

She nods and shrugs at the same time, eyes on the buckle of the seat belt she’s currently securing. Her lips are stretched in a thin line, and oh crap he really shouldn’t be staring at her lips, that’s very stupid. “First time,” MJ clarifies after a while, and Peter can’t help his compassionate smile when their eyes meet. “Stop looking at me like that,” she grumbles and he laughs a little, scratching the back of his neck.

“Are _you_ nervous?” he asks before he can stop himself. Luckily for him MJ doesn’t seem to mind, which he finds very surprising. He really thought she would flip him off instantly for asking something like that.

“Nah, not really. I’m excited to see if I can prove whether the Chemtrails conspiracy theory is real or not,” she tells him seriously, and Peter stares, a little unsure of what she’s talking about. She must have seen the questioning on his face because she goes on explaining something about a theory that the condensation trails left behind by planes in the sky are sometimes not just water but actual chemical agents. “Some say they’re used for human population control," she adds, "or even better psychological manipulation.”

“Oh, okay,” Peter says, half surprised at everything she just told him, and half amused at how passionate she seems to be. He likes that, a lot, about her. They don’t get to discuss more about the subject though, because the plane starts moving, and MJ focuses her eyes on the back of the seat in front of her. She’s breathing quietly, and her face is calm, but Peter can see her tension in how tightly she’s grasping her copy of Virginia Wolf’s _A Room of One’s Own_.

The plane stops for a moment right at the beginning of the runway, and Peter can hear it despite himself – he tries not to listen too much, most times, because he thinks it’s kind of a violation of privacy or something –: the slight quickening of her heartbeat. He reaches for something in his pocket, and hands it to MJ. “Here,” he tells her with a smile, but she frowns.

“Are you trying to tell me I have bad breath, Parker?” she asks, and Peter feels himself blush instantly.

“No of course not,” he exclaims, shaking the pack of gum around like an idiot, “it’s for your ears, it helps with the take-off, you know, with the pressure rising and everything…”

“Right…” MJ narrows her eyes at him, but there’s the tiniest smile tugging at her lips and it effectively turns his brain upside down. “Very subtle Parker, very subtle.”

“I swear to you I don’t think you have bad breath,” he grumbles, and she lets out a small chuckle, taking one chewing gum out of the pack and popping it into her mouth. Peter does the same, then slips the pack back into his jeans pocket just as the plane starts moving again. “This is it,” he tells MJ with what he hopes is a reassuring smile, but she just rolls her eyes at him.

Her hands are back at grasping her book, while his hands are on the armrests. As the plane increases its speed, Peter thinks about what would happen if MJ were to grab his hand. That would be awesome. It would make things a lot easier for him too, he thinks. Obviously she’s not gonna do it though. That’s not MJ. She just takes a sharp breath when the plane eventually takes off, and stays very still for a long moment even after they’re in the air. Peter listens to her heartbeat the entire time, fascinated. It’s rather calm, but sometimes it speeds up for a few seconds, and then she takes a deep breath and it slows down again. He’s impressed at how efficient she is at keeping calm despite the fact that she’s obviously quite nervous about flying.

When the signal indicating that they can unfasten their seat belts turns off, MJ lets out the smallest sigh and slides her book in the pocket of the seat in front of her, before glancing at him. Their eyes meet and she frowns. “’Sup Parker?”

“You good?” he retorts, and she rolls her eyes again, but with another tiny smile that she hides by pressing her lips together. Oops, he’s staring at her lips again.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” she sighs, switching uncomfortably in her seat. “So, what are we supposed to do now?” she asks after a minute, meeting his eyes again. He can see she’s still a little nervous, so he smiles again, grabbing his backpack from the floor.

“Well I uh, I have a dual headphone adapter, if you want to uh, watch a movie together?” he suggests, showing her the device as well as his headphones. Step one of his plan is complete, step two is on, and it’s going well he thinks. He can’t help it, he’s very excited. Seeing her a little tensed and nervous actually calmed him down, because what can he do better than helping out others? That’s pretty much his very own domain of expertise, so there’s that. He doesn’t feel as jumpy as he was before, so that’s definitely a win.

He smiles to her, and she hides another grin by pressing her lips against each other. She’s doing that a lot today, and it effectively sends his heart in overdrive every time if he’s being honest with himself. Or maybe she always does it, but now that they’re a lot closer than they ever were before he’s staring a little too much at her lips and only now noticing. Whatever it is, it’s very distracting, _that_ he has to admit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this chapter, it's been very therapeutic for me to write this story. I really need some cute, happy things in my life, and writing about these two is definitely a good way to achieve that! :D  
> Thank you again Spideyfan62 and youlookprettytoo for commenting on Chapter 1! It's always amazing to get feedback :)
> 
> Oh, also, for this story we're gonna do chapter with Peter's POV + MJ's POV, then chapter with only Peter's POV, then chapter with only MJ's POV, and then back to both of them, et cetera. Hope you like that! See yaaaa


	3. "No it's fine, you're interesting." Crap.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: MJ trying to ignore Peter's peterness, failing completely, and being okay with it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why hello there!  
> I'm excited for you guys to read this one! Prepare yourself for some MJ POV :D  
> In last chapter Peter had just suggested watching a movie, we're picking up right where we left off, enjoy!!
> 
> (I managed to wait two whole days again before posting, I'm so proud of myself!! xD)

**Chapter 3**

“ **No it’s fine, you’re interesting.” _Crap._**

“Well I uh, I have a dual headphone adapter, if you want to uh, watch a movie together?” Peter suggests with a sweet smile, and MJ gulps for no reason. Now that she’s a little more comfortable with the fact that they’re _flying 35,000 feet above the ground_ , she’s suddenly very aware of how close he is to her, which is not something she would like to dwell on at all, except that’s all her brain can focus on apparently.

“Cool,” she nods, and is it just her or is her voice quivering? Reaching for her backpack, she looks for her headphones, taking it as an opportunity to try and regain her composure, which is a lot harder than she would ever like to admit. What is it about this boy that makes her go all stupid and fluffy inside?

_Wow_ , nope, don’t go down that road, that would probably take hours. Not that she’s listing things in her head or anything. The chewing gum in her mouth is soft and fresh though, and thanks to it her ears didn’t actually pop because of the pressure. She can’t believe how nice this guy can be. Why does he have to be so sweet, ughh.

“So um, what kind of movies do you like?” he asks her as she untangles the string of her headphones, having put her backpack down again. She glances at him, and he’s staring at her, and really, _really_ she would love nothing more than to know what’s going on inside his head. Wait, _like_ , not love. Stupid brain.

What _kind_ of movies does she like? “Only depressing ones I guess,” she says with a shrug, hoping she sounds casual despite not feeling casual at all. “Or hilarious ones.”

“Right, cool,” Peter smiles, scratching the back of his neck. He does that sometimes. Mostly when she’s just said something that surprised him, she thinks. He was going at it when she told him about the Chemtrails theory. She thought she was about to die of embarrassment at first when she mentioned it, but then he was looking at her all interested and crap, she had rambled on about it like an idiot. “How about something hilarious then?”

“Why, you scared of crying in front of a girl?” she says without thinking, and then she panics for a split second, before remembering that that’s okay. That’s her, that’s what she does, she confronts people about dumb stereotypes, she can do that with Peter too. She really ought to do it too, because if he’s one of those macho dudes she definitely doesn’t want anything to do with him at all. Not that she _wants_ anything from him anyway, really.

“Oh no, I cry all the time really,” Peter admits with a chuckle, running his fingers through his hair, and she wonders how it would feel to do the same thing. _Oh my_ God _just shut up_. “It’s just, I’m more in a comedy kind of mood? If it makes sense?”

“Yeah okay,” MJ vaguely nods, lost in her stupid thoughts about touching his _hair_. What’s wrong with her? Oh, this is bad.

“But if you want to watch something sad it’s okay really we can –”

“I said yeah okay, dork,” she retorts, a little too harshly than intended. When he hesitates, biting his lower lip, she instantly feels bad about it. She doesn’t dwell on that fact because it’s just plain distracting really, and instead grabs the adapter from his hand and plugs it in, ignoring the rush inside her caused by the very small matter of touching his hand. This is dumb. “Alright, let’s see what movies they have anyway,” she tells him with a smile, and he returns it instantly, sending butterflies in her stomach.

They settle on a new comedy neither of them has seen, and for the next hour and a half, MJ actually has a great time. They’re watching on her screen, so Peter has to move even closer to her to see it properly. At some point he stifles a loud laugh in his hands, and the sudden movement somehow make their shoulders touch, which sends mayday signals through MJ’s entire body for some reason. He instantly apologizes and moves away, and she has a hard time focusing for the next few minutes, yes, she admits it. They never touch, not even for fist bumps or whatever. This is very new – and, a little exciting too, maybe? Just a tiny bit.

In the middle of the movie, a stewardess comes by to ask them their preferences for dinner. She chooses the vegetarian option, and so does Peter. She thinks he’s earned a good point again, and then she scowls herself internally because what the hell is she _doing_? Definitely not keeping score on things she likes, ahem, _tolerates_ about him. She’s not doing that. Would it be that bad if she were though? She’s getting confused again. Actually, she’s been confused since the idiot asked her if she wanted to sit together, if she’s being honest with herself. Oh well…

They serve dinner as their movie ends, and Peter and her agree on a little break to eat before resuming to watch something else. While she munches on her rather tasteless ratatouille,Peter tells her all about what he read concerning the cities they’re gonna visit during the trip, and she’s glad he’s doing most of the talking because she’s a little distracted by his _face_. She tries not to stare, but she can’t help it somehow. She doesn’t think she’s ever seen someone with such an expressive and open and sweet face. She thinks about the saying ‘wear your emotions on your sleeve’, and well Peter definitely wears them on his face. In his eyes, too. He’s excited and it shows, and _yes_ , she likes it, alright?

“I’m sorry I’m talking too much, I’m probably boring you to death,” he says suddenly, bringing her back to reality, and she realizes he’s blushing now. She takes a sip from her drink to gather her thoughts somehow – she’s kind of finally coming to the realization that she’s a lost cause, which is a very weird thing for her – then shrugs absentmindedly, or at least that’s what she’s going with, she’s not sure if she’s succeeding or not to be honest.

“No it’s fine, you’re interesting.” _Crap_. “I mean it’s interesting, what you were, um, saying,” she clarifies, crumbling her napkin in her fist before tossing it on her tray. She avoids his gaze because she can feel her cheeks growing hot again. She hears him whisper a shy ‘right’ and she gets the sudden urge to run away for some reason. For the sake of her own mental health, she decides to follow this impulse, because everything is just so _distracting_ right now.

Being in a plane thousands of feet above the ground, there’s not many possibilities really, so she mumbles that she needs to go to the bathroom real quick. Peter gathers their trays, folds his table and stands to let her go without saying anything. As she moves past him, she accidentally brushes her elbow against his side, and she barely holds back from running towards the end of the plane where the bathrooms are.

Luckily for her, there’s an empty one so she gets in hastily, breath a little short. She hates this. She’s so nervous around him she’s actually _scared._ What’s up with _that_? Peter Parker’s just another person, there’s nothing special about him or whatever. Well, except for the fact that she’s pretty sure he’s Spider-Man. Otherwise that’s it. Oh but who is she kidding, she’s not scared because of _that_. Taking a deep breath, she looks at her flushed reflection in the mirror.

She’s scared because there is _something_ in his eyes when he looks at her and only her, and she likes that _a lot_. She’s figured out that he probably likes her a little while ago, and yes, way before that she also figured out that she probably likes him too, no matter how stupid this makes her feel. This was not her plan. Falling for someone in High School is so not something she was intending to do. And yet here she is, and most importantly here _he_ is. There’s always a small part of her doubting it all, maybe she’s mistaking, maybe she’s wrong and he doesn’t like her at all, but then again she’s always been a good judge of character, and _very_ observant.

And Peter Parker, well, he’s not the best at keeping secrets – or is he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you Gamergeek16, Spideyfan62 and Machiavelien for your comments, you guys are the best ♥  
> Thanks for all the kudos too!! :D I seriously cannot wait to post next chapter, it's my favorite one I've written so far hehe  
> Hope all of you guys are safe, as well as your loved-ones ♥


	4. "Grumpy much?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: sneaky turbulences, Peter being sweet, and MJ trying to be grumpy and ultimately failing because Peter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost posted chapter 5 instead of 4 hahaha I'm dumb.  
> So excited for you guys to read this one!! I like it very much.  
> * Piglet's voice * Enjoyyyyyy

**Chapter 4**

**“Grumpy much?”**

Peter sits back in his seat, not even daring to watch MJ go – not that that’s something he _does_ from time to time, ahem. He has no idea what just happened. Well, that’s not true, he’s pretty sure he’s driven her off by being the worst chatterbox the world has ever borne. But then again, she still said that he was interesting, and had that been a slip of the tongue, Peter doesn’t know. He’s felt more and more comfortable being around her for the past two hours, but now he’s back to being very nervous because he has no idea how to read her.

“Pete, hey how’s it going?” Ned’s voice brings him back to now, and he looks up to meet his best friend’s curious eyes.

“Hey,” Peter greets him, scratching one of his eyebrow with a small sigh, “um, well I thought it was going well, but now I’m not so sure anymore.”

“Why is that?” Ned asks with a frown.

“I don’t know, she just started acting really weird all of a sudden but…” Peter sighs again and shrugs, not really wanting to think too much about it for reasons. “Anyway, what about you?”

Ned enthusiastically starts talking about how he leveled up in _Beast Slayers_ and dropped an amazing weapon against the last mob he fought, and he goes on until they hear someone clear their throat behind him. “You dorks were missing each other? That’s cute.” Peter looks up and meets MJ’s eyes. She’s smirking at him and he feels his heart picking up in his chest.

Ned scoffs at her, but then the signal indicating that they need to put their seat belts on lights up, and he immediately scrambles back to his seat with a quick ‘ _see you later_ _you two_ _!_ ’, which somehow makes Peter blush like an idiot. He stands up to let MJ sit in her seat, and just then there’s a turbulence that has her stumble forward. Peter manages to keep his balance – thanks, spider powers – and unconsciously grabs MJ’s elbow to prevent her from falling. Her shoulder bumps into his torso, and as she tries to regain her balance she leans into him, which obviously turns his brain into jelly. Their gazes meet, and she’s so close right now he would only need to move barely an inch or two if he was tempted to kiss her – which he definitely is.

He’s not gonna do it though. He’s Spider-Man, but he’s not _that_ bold. That’s a pity though, he thinks.

MJ lets out a breathless chuckle, biting her lower lip and leaning off of him. “Oops, sorry.” She takes half a step back, and Peter realizes he’s still holding her arm so he lets go, cheeks very hot. “Thanks for catching me.”

_Always_. Wow, what the hell brain, nope, not gonna say that. “Yeah uh, no problem.” He smiles nervously at her, and she smiles back, and he’s pretty sure she’s nervous as well but he has no idea if it’s a good nervous like him, or a bad nervous like ‘yuck don’t touch me ever again’ kind of nervous. Although, MJ being MJ, he’s pretty sure if she really was uncomfortable she would say something. Or probably even slap him. So this is good? He has absolutely no idea whatsoever.

She moves past him and sits back in her seat, and he sits down too. They’re both quiet for a moment, not really looking at each other, and Peter’s mouth is extremely dry once again. He curses himself for not keeping the drink the stewardess gave him for dinner. MJ is examining her nails – something he’s never ever seen her do in all the years he’s known her – and he’s pretty sure she’s avoiding his eyes now. This is the most awkward they’ve ever been, he thinks with a face, which is a lot to say because they’re almost always awkward when they’re together. “Um, so do you want to watch –”

“Yes,” MJ says before he can finish, and he’s not imagining the relieved sigh she lets out at that. She grins at him, and then puts on her headphones and selects a movie, settling in her seat, her chin propped in her hand, elbow on the armrest between them. She’s even closer to him than she was during the first movie, and Peter thinks he’s probably losing his mind over it but whatever.

To be honest, two hours later he has no clear idea what the movie’s been about at all. It doesn’t matter in the slightest though, because half an hour ago, MJ fell asleep. The elbow she’d put on the armrest between them slipped a little, and now her head is resting on the backrest of her seat, but so close to him that her cheek is grazing his shoulder every once in a while. She’s not resting fully on him, but nonetheless Peter barely dares to breathe because _wow_.

The next movie is queuing up though, so he reaches to turn the screen off, scared to wake her up, but apparently she’s sound asleep. Seeing as her headphones are still on, Peter thinks this might not be comfortable at all, and after hesitating a great deal, he gently slides them back so that they now rest around her neck. He holds his breath during the entire procedure, just as if he was defusing a bomb or something, which is ridiculous, he knows it. She doesn’t move an inch, her face peaceful and still, and once he’s done he can’t help himself and just stares at her for a little while.

He doesn’t want to be creepy though, so he forces himself to stop. His own eyes are stinging with sleep too, so he tries to find a comfortable position, not too close to MJ as to not scare her when she wakes up. It takes him a long time to fall asleep though, because he cannot believe any of this really happened today. Is he really sitting next to a sleeping MJ in a plane heading to Venice right now? It pretty much sounds like a dream, and yet…

**x**

MJ wakes up with a start a couple of hours later, and for a minute she’s very confused from not immediately recognizing her surroundings. Then her eyes fall on the face of a sleeping Peter Parker, and it all comes back to her. She remembers choosing one random, and somehow _very_ boring movie after their little ‘bumpy’ interaction when she’d returned from the bathroom – which had essentially driven her mind into oblivion – and gradually falling asleep to it while trying not to glance too much at Peter. The screen in front of her is off, and her headphones are around her neck, and she blushes at the thought that Peter is probably behind all this. Always so sweet, ughh.

She’s very sleepy still, and she definitely doesn’t have it in her to fake annoyance at him for _that_. Instead she takes a moment to appreciate the peacefulness she reads all over his sleepy face. The lights are off, the engines are humming, her seat is deeply uncomfortable, and yet she thinks she’s never felt so calm and content before, on an airplane 35,000 feet above the ocean, eyes roaming across Peter Parker’s sweet features. His eyes are slightly moving behind his eyelids, and she wonders if he’s dreaming.

Is she being a big pile of fluff internally right now? Definitely. Does she mind? Not half as much as she probably should, but she figures she’s just very tired. Or something. It doesn’t matter anyway.

The air around MJ is getting chilly, and a shiver runs through her. As silently as she can, she reaches for her backpack to grab her spare sweatshirt. She really thought she did a good job at being quiet, but when she looks up her eyes meet Peter’s confused ones, and she makes a face. “Sorry,” she whispers, “didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“That’s alright,” he smiles shyly, and something akin to deep affection for the dork tugs in her belly. “Are you cold?” She nods, showing him her sweatshirt, and he looks down, apparently hesitating, before offering: “I have another one if it’s not enough…”

MJ can’t help it, she scoffs at that, even if she finds it oddly endearing of _him_ specifically – any other man offering her that would have earned himself a speech on how neanderthalish that offer truly is. She’s going soft. This is bad. But it’s only for him, so maybe not _that_ bad? She’s not sure. “Just go back to sleep, dork,” she mumbles, frowning without meeting his eyes, and Peter lets out a small embarrassed laugh. She unfolds her sweatshirt and goes to put it on, then realizes she still has her headphones around her neck so she takes them off.

Peter offers to hold them and she lets him, putting on her sweatshirt to hide her reddening cheeks. Then he hands them back to her with a soft smile and she scoffs again, because how can she not when he’s being the sweetest idiot she’s ever met. Ughh. She puts them back in her bag, then slides it back at her feet and settles in her seat with a loud sigh. She moves her feet up to rest on the edge of the seat, trying to find a more comfortable position, but it’s apparently impossible in these stupid seats and she lets out a frustrated groan. She hears a little cough and looks up to meet Peter’s amused gaze. “What?”

“Grumpy much?” he teases, and she stares at him in shock for a second, because Peter’s never really teased her before. It kind of makes her want to hide her face in her hands with a giggle because _what_ , but that would be deeply ridiculous if she did that, so she settles for something more MJ-conventional – at least she thinks. She frowns deeply and nudges his knee with her right foot, and the dork has the decency to blush and apologize.

She scoffs once again for good measure, but she can’t help the small smile tugging at her lips, and Peter obviously sees it because his eyes light up with amusement and something else that sends shivers down her spine. She cannot blame it on the temperature now that she’s wearing two sweatshirts. They look at each other for a moment, and MJ’s heart is all over the place because of it. She grumbles something about going back to sleep again, and Peter chuckles nervously with a ‘right sorry’. She’s pretty sure she’s not gonna be able to sleep now, because her heart is hammering inside her chest for some reason – _some_ reason, right – but she closes her eyes nonetheless, forcing herself through deep breaths to calm down her pounding heart.

Damn it Parker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More comments people, come on I know you can do this!! For every comment you put one (1) big smile on my baby face :D  
> Thanks for all the kudos as well ♥


	5. Peter.exe has stopped working.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Peter.exe has stopped working. (just dropping the title here because it embodies perfectly what this chapter's about I think!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At first I chose a different title, and then that one came to mind and I'm pretty sure it's my favorite Chapter title ever?  
> It really embodies the spirit of this chapter too HAHAHA  
> Enjoy guys! :D

**Chapter 5**

**Peter.exe has stopped working.**

Approximately one hour before they land, Peter wakes up to the delicious prospect of breakfast. The tasty smells wake him up entirely in a matter of seconds, despite the fact that he probably hasn’t slept for more than three hours top. That’s alright, he’s used to not much sleep. He glances at MJ and finds her curled up in her seat, arms wrapped around her knees, cheek resting in the crook of one arm, brown hair covering half her face. His heart aches a little at how beautiful she looks, and then he’s blushing hard at this thought. He’s lucky she cannot hear him think.

His mind wanders back to a few hours earlier, when he’d dared offering her his sweatshirt if she was cold, and how she had reacted. The moment the words had escaped his mouth he’d thought he was doomed, and yet she’d just scoffed at him and told him grumpily to go back to sleep. He knew how she felt about this, had heard her rant about it a couple of times already at school, and yet she had let it slide. He thinks he was pretty lucky. She must have been pretty tired to not jump at the opportunity to dismantle one more patronizing, sexist gesture.

He really needs to be more careful with what he’s saying if he wants her to like him, he thinks. He also really, _really_ needs to stop his brain from short-circuiting every time they get too close / too personal / too anything really. _Get your shit together, Parker._

Just as this thought crosses his mind, a steward stops next to him and smiles, asking in a hushed voice: “Hi, what would you like to drink for breakfast sir? We have tea, coffee, hot chocolate, orange juice…”

“One coffee please,” Peter says after half a second worth of hesitation. He doesn’t usually drink coffee, but with the time difference between New York and Venice, he thinks he’s probably gonna need it.

“One coffee,” the man nods, before pointing to MJ, lowering his voice even more as to not wake her up, “And do you know what –”

“Coffee as well thanks,” MJ says in a raspy voice, looking up and blinking her tired eyes away. The steward nods again with a smile, and moves on to the people on the row across from them. Peter glances at MJ, who’s stretching like a cat, and he can’t help his fond smile. She undid her bun during the night, her hair now looking as curly as ever, and he lingers again on the thought that she really looks beautiful.

“You okay?” he asks her when she meets his eyes, and she makes a face, accidentally nudging him in the arm as she stretches some more. He sees her eyes slightly widen as she retracts her elbow instantly, and he wonders if she’s as aware as he is of how little they usually touch, and yet how much it’s been happening since the beginning of the trip. Being in close quarters does that, he assumes, and it’s mostly been accidental each time, but Peter can’t help being thrilled by it, he has to admit it. He wonders what her take is on all that. She probably didn’t even notice.

“Well,” MJ sighs, “my back is killing me and I could probably sleep for another 8 hours before feeling like a human again, but yeah I’m fine Parker.” She looks him up and down, making him blush instantly, then smirks and adds: “What about you, how was your beauty sleep?”

Peter.exe has stopped working. “Good.” He can’t think properly when she looks at him like that. There’s something in her eyes, something he’s never really seen before, and it’s sending his heart in overdrive. She’s teasing him, her gaze filled with amusement, and of course it’s happened before, he’s a very teasable person after all, but there’s something else to her expression right now that makes him wonder, for the very first time in his life, if she’s not actually _flirting_ with him just a little. And he’s definitely not ready for this. “I mean, not bad, I mean, um, yeah it wasn’t, yeah.”

She bites her lip to stifle a chuckle, and it makes him blush even more. And now he’s staring at her lips, and oh wow he’s in trouble. He looks up to meet her eyes again, and it knocks all the air out of his lungs more efficiently than a punch in the guts would. Except it’s really not painful at all. Quite the opposite actually. He loses himself in her deep brown eyes, and she doesn’t look away, she doesn’t smirk or make fun of him. They look at each other, and Peter has no idea whether only a few seconds pass or more before a stewardess stops next to him with her trolley, breaking their moment to give them coffees and breakfast.

They don’t say anything after that, and just eat their breakfast quietly, avoiding each other’s gaze. But Peter’s mind is racing, since he’s pretty sure they just had a _moment_. It’s as thrilling as it is terrifying really. His pounding heart won’t just calm down, no matter how many deep – discreet – breaths he takes to try and regain his composure. He barely even notices what he’s actually eating, despite the fact that breakfast food is like his favorite food ever. He knows what he wants, he has a plan, and yet that very moment is the first time he’s ever considered the fact that his plan could actually lead to what he really really wants.

It might sound stupid, because he thought of this plan to actually make it happen or at least give it a chance, but that’s exactly what’s going through his mind right now. Maybe it’s because MJ’s always seemed unreachable, almost idealized in a way, and suddenly she’s not anymore, she’s here next to him, talking and breathing and laughing with him and oh wow he just really, really wants to kiss her. Now even more than before, which is a lot to say. He’s not going to do that just yet though – even if the more he thinks about it, the more he believes she wouldn’t quite be against kissing him –, because he has a plan. And it’s a great plan.

Oh wow he’s stressing out.

When he’s done eating whatever breakfast was, Peter glances towards MJ shyly and sees her lost in her Virginia Wolf’s book, slowly sipping her coffee, and another wave of affection towards her surges through him. He cleans off his tray, then offers to take hers as well and she nods with a small smile that turns his brain upside down once again. Then he pretends to go through his backpack to organize it, when he’s actually making more of a mess in it because he’s only just trying to steal glances at MJ. He’s jumpy and restless now, and he thinks maybe the coffee was a bad idea after all. Oh well.

A steward comes by to pick up their trays and then it’s almost time for landing, so the seat belt signal turns on and MJ puts her book away. Peter offers her gum again, and she takes it with another smile, their fingers brushing in the process, and really Peter is completely lost at this point. He has no idea what it will feel like to kiss her – if he gets to that, which somehow seems more and more likely? – but he’s pretty sure he’s gonna completely lose his mind over it.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain speaking…” Peter barely registers what the woman is currently saying, except for the fact that it’s sunny in Venice and the local time is 9 am. MJ groans at that, putting her hair up in a bun, and Peter gets a little distracted by it until she mumbles: “I really should have taken a nap yesterday. Or this afternoon, wait, what time is it in New York?”

“Um, something like 3 am?” Peter tells her, and she winces.

“No wonder I feel like shit,” MJ sighs, muffling a yawn in her hand, and before he can stop himself, Peter retorts:

“You don’t look like shit.”

She turns to meet his eyes with raised eyebrows, her lips slightly parted in very apparent surprise, and he feels his cheeks burning through the fires of Hell instantly, because what the _Hell_ was he thinking saying that?! Easy answer, he wasn’t thinking at all. He’s _such_ an idiot. He doesn’t have the time to say anything – mainly apologize and beg for her not to hate him forever – because she snorts almost instantly, shaking her head with one of her very own MJ eye roll. “Jeez Parker, thanks, it makes me feel so much better already.”

“At your service,” he retorts with a smirk and a small, ridiculous bow, while completely panicking internally at whatever the hell he’s doing. What’s up with him being all witty and teasing, he has absolutely no idea, but apparently MJ likes it because she laughs at his response, shaking her head again, and bumps his shin with her socked foot. This causes him to ever so slightly lose his mind – internally, thank Thor –, but that’s alright he thinks.

As the plane starts to go down, Peter takes a deep breath to calm down his pounding heart, his mind all giddy at the prospect of landing in Venice and getting one step closer to the end of his plan. Things are going great, he thinks, and hopefully they’ll keep doing just that until it’s finally time. He’s never been more impatient in his life before, except that one time in Germany with Iron Man, obviously. Wow, he has a great history with plane rides, when he thinks about it. That’s cool.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS PLANE RIDE IS VERY LONG  
> Next chapter our two cute idiots finally arrive in Venice, YAY! :P


	6. "Ughh, I'm too tired for this."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: MJ makes an important decision, then throws it in the wind ten minutes later. Oh well

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!  
> Sorry I had to upload this one twice somehow it didn't appear anywhere? Don't know what that was about :o  
> Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Chapter 6**

**“Ughh, I’m too tired for this.”**

MJ thought the landing would be scarier than the take-off, but somehow it isn’t at all. She barely has time to try and come to terms with the fact that apparently Peter is _teasing_ her now – she doesn’t think she’s ready to deal with that at all honestly – that the plane’s landing gear softly hits the ground and then it’s over. People start clapping and she just rests her head on the backrest of her seat, letting out a small sigh despite herself. “Well, that wasn’t so bad.”

“You did great,” Peter tells her and she glances at him to see his sweet grin, rolling her eyes to hide how giddy hearing him say that makes her feel. “What? My first time on a plane I almost broke the armrest because I was grabbing it so hard.”

She can’t help snorting at that, and she likes the satisfied face he makes because of it, like he’s proud of himself for making her laugh or something. “Loser,” she mumbles, but it’s not convincing at all since she’s smiling openly now, and Peter sees it because he chuckles lightly, looking down at his hands, the remnants of his smile wrinkling the corners of his eyes. Why does he have to be that cute, MJ has no idea, but it really isn’t fair she thinks.

The plane is rolling now, people are starting to stir up in their seats and gather their things, so MJ takes off her second sweatshirt and stuffs it back in her backpack, alongside her book and headphones, then puts her shoes back on. Next to her, Peter is doing the same, and from the corner of her eyes, she only just notices his flashy Iron Man socks. “Nice socks,” she points out with a smirk, and Peter’s face instantly turns bright red at that, matching perfectly with his socks. She laughs openly when he won’t even meet her eyes, mumbling something about how much he loves those socks, but she can still see the amusement on his face and it does weird things to her heart.

As the plane finally comes to a stop, they hear Mr Harrington’s voice over the chatter of the other passengers telling Midtown students to stay put until everyone else has left the plane, so that’s what they do. MJ is both excited to get on with the trip and nervous to see what’s going to happen next. Well, technically she knows what’s next, Harrington gave them a full itinerary sheet before they left New York, but her slight anxiety clearly isn’t due to wondering at what time they’re going to the Da Vinci museum or what they’re gonna do in Paris. However, it definitely _has_ to do with the stupid boy sitting next to her.

Things happened during the flight, not _obvious_ things like kissing or whatever – she’s not thinking about that, _kissing Peter Parker_ , no that’s just deeply distracting really – but she’s pretty sure, like at least 72% sure, that they had a _moment_ right before breakfast. Catching him not so subtly peek at her lips had rendered her absolutely speechless, and thinking back she really wonders what would have happened if they hadn’t been ‘interrupted’ by breakfast. It’s kind of terrifying, but she thinks if he’d moved closer, yes, she would _probably_ have kissed him.

_Wow_.

Her heart twitches at that thought, and she’s pretty sure her cheeks are slightly red as well, but she doesn’t have it in her to just deny it, because it’s true and she doesn’t like to lie, especially not to herself. But how did this happen anyway? Nine hours in close proximity with that sweet idiot and now her crush is bigger than the freaking moon, what’s up with that? She thought she had it under control, dimming it slightly distracting at worst, and definitely something that would go away with time, but now she knows she clearly doesn’t have it under control _at all_. Unless having it under control actually means gradually losing her mind over it? Oh man, she’s so screwed. Which is definitely why she’s a little nervous now to see where things are heading. Sitting next to him kind of was the easy part she thinks, but now what? What does he have in mind? What does he _want_? What does _she_ want?

Oh wow now she’s just stressing out. This _sucks_.

“I think we can go now,” Peter tells her quietly, bringing her back to reality. He’s smiling at her and she absentmindedly smiles back, accidentally glancing at his lips for a split second, which turns her stupid heart into a pounding mess. She ignores it as much as she can, stands up, grabs her stuff and follows Peter in the aisle. They follow Ned and Betty, but then Flash Thompson jumps out in front of Peter and starts being his usual douche to him.

MJ already doesn’t have much patience for Thompson in her usual every day life, but having only slept roughly 4 hours during the flight rounds her level of tolerance for his BS to something way below zero, so she doesn’t even think. She pushes halfway past Peter to face the insufferable idiot and snaps: “Move, asshat.” For some reason, Eugene’s always been scared of her apparently, so he doesn’t push his luck and immediately scrambles away. MJ smirks at this sight, and then meets Peter’s grateful, and somehow a little rounder than usual eyes.

That’s when she realizes she’s actually leaning into him, the front of her shoulder pressed onto the back of _his_ shoulder. Instantly her cheeks feel like they’re burning and she moves away, heart pounding in her chest. She lets out an embarrassed laugh and he mirrors it, scratching the back of his neck with a shy smile that she thinks will probably be the end of her at some point if he keeps pointing it at her like that. He thanks her and she just rolls her eyes, for lack of a better answer because once again her mind cannot seem to focus on anything else but the fact that they were just _touching_ again.

Yes, it’s happened a lot, _somehow_ , during the last 9 hours, and no, she’s still not used to it, and doesn’t think she ever will be. It messes with her brain too much. She should probably keep her distance from now on, she thinks. No more touching now that they’re not in close proximity anymore. It should be easy, being in the open wide world. She can do this. She’s not a physical person anyway, she doesn’t really like hugs and she’d rather nod at someone – or flip them off – to say hi than do some kind of stupid handshake or whatever. Yes, that’s right, no more physical contact of any kind with Peter Parker from now on, she decides. She even manages to _not_ think – too much – about the possible um, _possibilities_ where she would have to break that deal with herself.

It’s a plan, a good, simple, _responsible_ one, in her opinion, and yet some- _freaking_ -how she doesn’t even manage to stick to it for more than ten minutes. They meet up with the rest of the group side by side, and then they all have to go through customs and wait in line for ages. MJ is standing behind Peter almost at the end of one of the queues, and she’s pretty sure they chose the slowest one because obviously that’s always been her curse. And she’s exhausted and her backpack is heavy and her feet kinda hurt already, and wow she’s just so sick of standing there – yes, she’s not very patient sometimes, she admits it.

Later on, she blames it on her exhaustion. She blames it on being up for so long, she blames it on how distracted she’s been lately, she blames it on how distracting _Peter_ ’s been since they left New York. She blames it on her stupid brain that’s been so consumed by her stupid crush that she apparently cannot for the life of her think properly and reasonably.

Because at some point, she lets out a desperate groan and, out of anguish – probably – she slumps forward and presses her forehead to Peter’s shoulder. “Ughh, I’m too tired for this,” she whines, and then she stills.

She stills, because there she is, having completely disregarded her previous resolution to not get too close to him again. There she is, touching him again, not even _accidentally_ this time, and in such an intimate way too. There she is, with her freaking forehead pressed against the back of his shoulder, and wow she’s never noticed this before – obviously, because how could she have anyway? – but Peter Parker really smells _good_. A mix of fruity shampoo and coffee and just _him_ really and, and, but wait a second _what the hell is she doing?_

He’s very still. She obviously cannot see his face, but she can feel the tension in his back and in his shoulders – because her freaking face is pushed against him, _obviously_ , like _what_. It only lasts a couple of seconds. A couple of seconds where she doesn’t even dare to move, eyes wide open in shock, incapable of uttering a single word. A couple of seconds in a dazed panic, and then she stands back up, cheeks burning, and without even glancing at him she runs away, mumbling something about trying another queue that might be faster.

MJ walks up to Zoha and Yasmin, two girls from her Physics class, and just stands behind them, not even daring to look in Peter’s general direction. She can’t do that. She can’t see the look on his face right now. This is too much. Way too much. She feels like her heart is about to beat out of her chest. Her cheeks are burning, her hands are sweating, she can barely breathe, and really _how_ is she supposed to deal with all of this?! She’s _so_ screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a lot for all the kudos and comments for last chapter, they're all deeply appreciated!! ♥  
> Hope you guys are all safe :)


	7. "Oh my God, I think MJ likes me."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Peter realizes something! Something rather nice and important

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dat title though. Sooooo in this chapter, Peter realizes something important LOL  
> I'm blown away by all the kudos and comments this story is getting, you guys really are the best!! ♥

**Chapter 7**

**“Oh my God, I think MJ likes me.”**

Peter can’t move. He can’t _think_. The ghost of MJ’s forehead pressed against his shoulder is turning his brain and nervous system into jelly. He can’t even glance after her to see where she went. His cheeks and the back of his neck feel like they’re burning, and his heart is pounding so hard in his chest he cannot focus on any other sound for at least five good minutes.

Then his brain seemingly reboots and starts analyzing what just happened at the speed of light. In a moment of extreme boredom and tiredness, MJ leaned into him, in a somehow intimate but also very simple gesture that he thinks might mean that she’s maybe comfortable enough around him to touch him now? And he knows, he’s very aware of it actually, that she’s _not_ someone who’s into hugging or even handshakes usually, so what does it mean? He feels feverish and like he’s losing his mind right now, because he’s slowly coming to a conclusion that’s pretty overwhelming if he thinks too much about it. And obviously he _is_ thinking too much about it.

“Hey bro, what’s up?” Ned’s voice comes from behind him, shaking him out of his thoughts.

“Oh my God,” Peter mutters, eyes wide, turning to meet his best friend’s gaze. “I think MJ likes me.”

He doesn’t know what he expected exactly. He knows however, what he did _not_ expect, and that is Ned openly laughing at his sudden statement. “Really?”

“Why are you laughing?” Peter retorts with a half wounded, half annoyed frown. Is it really that unlikely? Oh but it probably is, he’s overthinking this once again, what just happened probably doesn’t mean anything at all…

Ned makes a face and apparently coaches himself through a more serious expression before shrugging. “I don’t know, I think you’re right?”

_What_.

“You _do_?” Peter chokes out, heart pounding. “How – why, wh–”

“I’m sorry Pete,” his best friend exclaims with another grimace, “I probably should have told you sooner but yeah, it’s kind of obvious that she does.” He lets out a small embarrassed laugh and adds: “I don’t know, I thought you knew?”

Peter cannot believe any of this. “Well no I didn’t!” he retorts forcefully, glaring at his friend despite himself. What the hell is happening?

“I’m sorry okay? I really thought you knew, with you planning all this and everything I thought–”

Peter opens his mouth to whine again, but he doesn’t have the time to come up with anything. Ned is interrupted by Betty who walks up to him and hands him her passport with a sweet smile. “Hey babe can you hold this for me please?” she asks in a kind, caring voice, and Peter thinks he’s losing his mind again.

“Yeah of course,” Ned smiles, ignoring his friend staring at him in shock.

“Thanks.” Betty gives him a kiss on the cheek, and then Ned boops her on the nose, and she leaves with one last longing look, and really by now Peter is pretty sure he’s dreaming because nothing makes sense anymore. First the MJ thing, and now this? Is he in another parallel universe or what? He’s probably still in the plane and dreaming all this, like one of those hyper realistic dreams or something. It would make a lot more sense than whatever is going on right now.

“What was that?” he asks in a choked voice once Betty is out of earshot. Glancing at her, he sees that she’s stopped next to MJ and is now talking to her. MJ is not looking towards him, but just seeing her, standing there with her whole attention focused on her friend, he can already feel his cheeks reddening and his heart jump in his chest. Does she _really_ like him or is he completely out of his mind?

“Uh, well, we actually got to talking on the plane,” Ned tells him, and Peter looks back at him, shaking his head to hopefully get MJ out of it – spoiler alert, it does _not_ work. “And it turns out we have a lot in common. So we’re boyfriend and girlfriend now.”

This particular news kind of pushes back the MJ subject a little, and Peter frowns in surprise. “Whatever happened to being bachelors in Europe?”

“Peter, those were the words of a boy,” Ned tells him like it’s all very obvious, and really Peter is just lost at this point. “And that boy met a woman, a very strong and powerful woman, and now, that boy is a man.”

“Babe?” Betty calls from where she’s standing next to MJ, and both boys turn to look at her. Ned immediately says ‘coming babe’ and walks towards them, and Peter just stands there in shock like an idiot. Because MJ is looking in his direction, her brown eyes shy and hesitant, and when their gazes meet Peter instantly feels like he’s been hit by a train. They look at each other from across the room, and then Peter realizes he’s smiling, a small, sheepish thing, and really he’s not even sure what he’s trying to say with this smile.

When MJ looks down to her shoes after a couple of seconds though, Peter is sure he is not imagining the timid, beautiful grin spreading on her lips.

**x**

MJ is lost in a haze of self deprecating thoughts until Betty stops by her side. She looks up to meet her friend’s eyes and frowns in surprise because somehow Betty seems especially happy. She doesn’t even need to ask her why, because she launches herself in explanations right away, like she’s been dying to tell someone. “Hey MJ, so remember how I told you you owed me because I agreed on letting you sit next to Peter?” MJ just groans at that, hands clenched on the straps of her backpack. She doesn’t like where this is going she thinks, but then somehow it goes in the opposite direction she was expecting as Betty adds enthusiastically: “Well turns out I’m probably the one who owes you because Ned and I are together now!”

Okay. Right. So there’s that. “Really?” MJ says, glancing in surprise at her friend, not entirely sure what she’s supposed to say to that. “How is that uh, how did this happen?”

“Well, we talked a lot on the plane,” Betty tells her like a secret, “and we have so much in common it’s amazing!” She smiles fondly, like she’s remembering something sweet, and MJ just blinks her surprise away. She takes pride in herself for being very observant, but to be honest she did not see that one coming at all. “Anyway, what about you and Peter?”

“There’s nothing between me and Peter,” MJ snaps hastily without thinking, cheeks instantly burning and heart pounding in her chest. Oh she hates this. Is there anything between Peter and her though? No, no she can’t think about that right now, she needs to _focus_.

“Okay,” Betty says, dragging the last syllable and narrowing her eyes suspiciously at her. Thankfully she apparently decides this is a conversation for another time because she calls after Ned and without thinking MJ turns her gaze in the direction her friend is looking at. And she freezes.

She should have seen it coming really, since these two idiots are rarely seen without one another, but it is still a shock to notice that Ned is standing next to one Peter Parker. Her heart skips a beat at that, and she hates herself for it but wow that dumbass really is cute. There’s something different in watching him from a distance after having spent the last 10 hours in rather close proximity. It sends shivers down her spine and somehow screams at her to stop standing there like an idiot and just _do_ something. MJ takes a small hitching breath and lets herself consider it for just a second. Lock eyes with him, walk to him without hesitating, and kiss him right there in the middle of the crowded airport.

_Nope._

Their eyes meet, and it feels like her heart has stopped beating once and for all. It’s weirdly intimate somehow, to stare at each other from across the room like that. She has to remember to take a deep breath and oxygenate herself after a second, because it feels like meeting his eyes sucked all the air out of her lungs. And then Peter slowly smiles at her, a shy and small thing compared to his usual smiles, and her heart jumps in her chest, and it’s too much. She breaks away, looking down at her feet, and it’s only a minute later that she realizes her own smile stretching her lips.

She pretends to pay attention to whatever Betty and Ned are talking about currently, trying not to glance at Peter too often while they wait to go through customs – he stayed in his queue, and she’s kind of thankful he did because she’s freaking out just a little right now. But not in a bad way. More in a oh-my-god-is-this-happening kind of way. It’s terrifying, if she’s being honest with herself. But it’s also quite exciting too.

She’s gonna have to find a solution to deal with her stupid pounding heart though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After two weeks doing nothing because it was school break for the kids (I work in a Primary school, I help handicapped kids during class, it's the best job ever imo), I have to get back to work (from home until May 11th) so I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to keep up with updating every two days, but then last night I wrote two chapters in a row so I think we should be fine xD
> 
> Stay safe friends! :) ♥


	8. "Sounds like a fun game."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Peter and MJ plays a little game, Brad is a little annoying, and Peter needs to reorganize his suitcase.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello good people of AO3!  
> I liked writing this chapter, hope you like reading it!

**Chapter 8**

**“Sounds like a fun game.”**

It takes a little while, but finally Peter gets through customs and then when he’s made it to the other side, he looks around to find Ned – or at least that’s what he’s telling himself, but really he’s mostly kind of looking for MJ. But Ned too, obviously, because he’s his best friend. Peter hasn’t really wrapped up his mind on the whole Ned dating Betty thing yet, because to be honest he absolutely did not see that coming, but he’s happy for him. Especially when he spots him next to a billboard, with a sweet smile plastered on his face as he talks to Betty.

They’re standing with most of the others from their group, waiting for Mr Harrington and Mr Dell before they go get their luggage. MJ is with them. She’s leaning on the wall and scrolling through her phone, pointedly ignoring Flash who’s live-streaming and overall being his very loud self right next to her. Even from here Peter can see the annoyed frown on her face, the way her shoulders are slightly tensed, how her left foot is bouncing impatiently on the gray floor. Her hair is shading half of her face, and she’s so pretty his heart aches just a little.

Damn it, he’s staring again.

Peter hesitates for a minute, not entirely sure what to do. Can he just walk up to them – to _her_ – and just act normal? It’s probably the right thing to do, but he’s kind of afraid to annoy her or something. Hopefully she understood from his smile earlier that he did not mind at all what had happened when they were waiting together half an hour ago. He really really hopes so, because it is the absolute truth. It made his heart go haywire and his brain short-circuit, but it’s what he _wants_. He wants her to be comfortable enough around him to do this, to have these little gestures become normal and familiar for her, for them, for _him_. Oh great, now he’s thinking about touching her, what an _idiot_.

Peter shakes his head to shut his stupid brain up because now is really _not_ the time. He walks towards his friends, mentally crossing his fingers in hope that his cheeks aren’t as red as he feels them to be. He stops next to Ned, with Betty to his left and MJ in front of him, gulping once before smiling. “Hey guys.”

“Hey Pete,” Ned greets with a nod, “what took you so long?”

He sees MJ quickly glance at him before looking back at her phone, and his heart skips a beat because of it. He scratches the back of his neck with a shrug. “You know me dude, Parker Luck. Obviously I chose the slowest line of them all.” The corners of MJ’s mouth slightly move upwards at that, despite the fact that her eyes are still set on her phone, and it sends an indescribable warmth coursing through his entire body. He doesn’t have time to analyze it in details though.

Brad Davis stops right in front of MJ, almost breaking out the circle they were previously forming with Ned and Betty, and Peter can’t help but frown. It’s not that he doesn’t _like_ Brad, but really there’s something about the guy that he doesn’t quite get. He’s not bad, just, _ughh_. Peter’s not sure why he’s feeling that way towards him, especially since Brad never did anything to deserve it really, but yeah. Maybe it’s all that confidence he’s showing off, well, maybe not showing off but exhibiting? Whatever it is, Peter doesn’t really appreciate his company, somehow.

He kind of feels bad for it, though. It’s really unlike him, he thinks.

“Hey MJ, how was your flight?” Brad asks with a bright smile, his attention fixed on MJ who looks up from her screen with raised eyebrows.

Peter watches as she seemingly hesitates, lips pinched in a thin line, but then she’s glancing at him and their eyes meet, and he catches his breath without even thinking – not that he _thinks_ much when he’s around her anyway. It only lasts a second, and then she’s looking back at her phone with a neutral face. “Good,” she tells Brad nonchalantly, and Peter has a hard time trying to hold back his deep sigh of relief.

And it’s like she knows, because when Brad starts talking about how _his_ flight went, MJ peeks at Peter again, and this time she’s smirking, and her eyes are shining with amusement, and really Peter thinks he cannot handle any of this because _wow_. They look at each other for a couple of seconds, and then she looks away again, pressing her lips together to hide her grin. And Peter’s staring at her mouth once again, which he’s established is a pretty bad idea multiple times already, and yet he keeps doing it somehow like the huge idiot he is.

He almost feels relieved when Mr Harrington calls out for their attention. Everyone’s been through customs and it’s now time to go get their luggage, so they follow the group towards baggage claim. MJ is walking next to him, ignoring him but still quite close to him really, and Peter feels like he’s walking on clouds – which is a terrible way to describe what he’s feeling, he thinks despite himself, because walking on clouds would actually mean that he’d be falling but whatever. He almost face-palms at that thought. Why does he have to be such a dork?

Their group scrambles around the baggage carousel, but MJ stays beside him and Peter’s brain gets a little sidetracked again. He’s nervous, his hands are sweaty, and all he wants to do is start blabbering but he tries not to because he doesn’t want her to think he’s an idiot. But she’s there, very quiet next to him, and it’s freaking him out a little because what if she gets bored and leave? It’s a dumb thought really, but it definitely stresses him out somehow.

“I like this part,” he tells her after a minute of anxious pondering.

MJ meets his eyes with a raised eyebrow. “What? Standing around and waiting?”

Peter chuckles, ignoring the rush inside him when he sees her smirk. “No, looking at all the different pieces of luggage going around,” he explains, pointing to the carousel where bags and suitcases are starting to roll on. “My dad had this game when I was little, we would try to match suitcases with people, depending on their types of clothes or like, overall appearance you know.”

“Sounds like a fun game,” MJ tells him with a sweet smile that turns his heart into mush.

“Do you wanna play?”

“Sure.” So that’s what they do for a little while, and it’s a lot of fun. When MJ guesses right after her third attempt and matches a green duffel bag with a man with a buzzed head, she mutters a triumphant ‘yes!’ and raises herself on her toes a couple of times with a sly smile, and really Peter doesn’t think he could like her more than he already does right now. He guesses the next one right too, matching a very packed suitcase with a family of four, and tells MJ he got it right thanks to the Frozen sticker on the handle.

“I know I saw it too,” MJ retorts with a wink, and then they’re both quiet for a little while, not looking at each other, and Peter wonders if she’s nervous too or if it’s just him.

After a moment he realizes his suitcase passed in front of him and is now rolling away. “Wait, that one’s mine!” he says, scrambling forward to catch it, and he’s delighted to hear MJ laugh behind him. He walks back to her carrying his bag with a pout, and she shakes her head with a smirk.

“Nice catch,” she tells him, and he pouts even more, earning himself another chuckle from MJ. Honestly, he thinks things could not be going better right now. This is great. This is really, really great. They wait for another couple of minutes, then MJ grabs her own over sized backpack and they go back to their group. He’s about to tell her they can keep playing the game if she wants, but then a security guard with a dog calls for his attention and tells him something in Italian that he doesn’t understand one bit. “He wants you to follow him, he needs to check your suitcase apparently,” MJ translates for him with a frown.

“Oh, okay,” he nods, a little sheepish, “I’ll um, I’ll catch up then, can you –”

“I’ll tell Harrington yeah,” she nods with a smirk.

“Thanks MJ!” Peter says, waving at her as he starts following the security guard.

“Just move your ass, Parker,” she retorts in a fake annoyed voice, and he blushes instantly at that, but then she’s smirking again and he almost trips on his own feet like an idiot because of it. He doesn’t really have time to think about it.

The security guard leads him to a woman in uniform, and she proceeds to open his suitcase, ignoring his assertion that there’s nothing dangerous in it. Then his brain freezes when he actually sees what’s in there. Apparently May packed his Spider-Man suit, alongside a sweet note and a banana. Luckily for him, after a very awkward and embarrassing silence, the woman just tells him he’s not allowed to take the banana, which she takes before closing the suitcase again and telling him he can go.

Peter hurries back to his group, mind racing. Hopefully she just thought he had weird tastes in pajamas or something. Oh man that was close. He needs to be more careful. He did tell May that he did not want to take his suit with him though, so that’s not all on him he thinks. Ah well, he’ll deal with that later, the important thing right now is that no one from his group can see the suit. He’ll just stuff it at the bottom of his suitcase when they make it to the hotel. Yes, good plan.

He meets up with the others, and is a little disappointed when he sees that MJ is talking with _Brad_. Mr Harrington is deeply relieved that he’s back, and after an awkward hug, the teacher leads them all outside where a boat is waiting for them. Peter isn’t fast enough and has to sit in the back with Ned and Betty, while MJ sits all the way to the front next to Brad. Peter’s a bit disappointed again, but then he realizes he kind of _has_ to stare at her because well, she’s in front of him really, and that’s definitely a view he can settle for.

Oops, and now he’s blushing again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, thank you guys for your comments and kudos, you're the best!  
> The little game they play at baggage claim is a game I used to play with my dad and brothers when we traveled, and I hope one day I'll get to play it with my kiddos as well (once the whole pandemic thingy is behind us and we can travel again obviously haha xD)  
> Take care of yourselves guys! ♥


	9. "I see through you, Jones."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: an interesting boat ride, tiny sparks of electricity and most importantly pizza.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had a very very crappy and stressful day today, so I decided well SCREW THIS I'm posting Chapter 9 tonight instead of tomorrow afternoon.  
> I don't know, it makes me feel a little better somehow.

**Chapter 9**

**“I see through you, Jones.”**

MJ catches Peter looking at her multiple times during the boat ride. Each time their eyes meet her heart jumps in her chest and they both hastily look away, and then she honestly cannot get rid of her smile. She’s not even sure she wants to in any case. They’re in another country, on another continent, the sightings are beautiful, it’s warm and breezy, the sun feels good against her skin and the air is light and salty. The boy she likes – _yes_ , she thinks she kind of have to admit it now – is peeking at her every now and then because she’s pretty sure he likes her too, and really that’s just great.

Yes, if anything she is definitely entitled to smile.

They make it to their hotel, and it’s no surprise to see it’s rather crappy looking, but she couldn’t care less. The boat stops and one by one people get out of it, Brad and MJ being the last ones since they were all the way to the front. MJ is stressing out just a little because Peter is helping some of their classmates to climb out of the boat, and she has no idea if he’s gonna offer to help her out too or not. Does she want him to though? If he’d been only helping out girls, definitely not she thinks, but the cute dork is actually offering his help to everyone, and MJ is just deeply confused by what she wants now.

She steps over the two rows of benches, the boat moving a lot more now that it’s practically empty, and finds herself looking up to meet Peter’s eyes. There’s a beat while they look at each other, and she’s not certain but he seems a little unsure and hesitant. Then he extends his hand to her with a shy, interrogative smile, and she surprises him almost as much as she does herself by grabbing it without second thoughts. His hand is steady and strong, his skin warm and soft. It sends tickles up her arm and she can’t help but catch her breath. Peter helps her up easily, and it’s another second before they drop each other’s hand, and really MJ just thinks her heart is about to explode or something.

They smile to each other at the same time, and they’re a lot closer than she would probably intend to, but then again she realizes she doesn’t mind at all. “Thanks dork,” she tells him, nodding a little awkwardly and instantly hating herself for it. But she sees Peter’s eyes light up and she thinks it must not have been that bad then.

“You’re welcome,” he says quietly, and really just screw him and his smiles and his softness and his stupid cute _face_. Oops, maybe not _screw_ him. MJ’s lucky he’s now offering his help to Brad, because her cheeks are suddenly burning up in embarrassment, and she takes a couple of steps onto the dock to put a little distance between them. She will _not_ think about screwing Peter Parker, absolutely not.

_Oh God._

“Thanks Parker,” Brad says in a loud voice then, “but I’m good.”

MJ raises an eyebrow as he climbs out of the boat without Peter’s help, almost tumbling. She meets Peter’s eye and has to look away not to chuckle at his frown. It’s like he doesn’t know why Brad would rather tumble out of the boat instead of using some help. MJ sighs at how endearing that sweet idiot is. Brad has been talking to her the entire boat ride, and she’s pretty sure she knows where he wants this to go. And she’s flattered, really, but yeah, meeting Peter’s eyes once again, her heart fluttering in her chest, she just knows being with Brad is not what she wants at all.

She cannot believe she’s thinking about all this right now. 24 hours ago she was her happy alone self, and now _two_ boys are somehow interested in her. _Y_ _ikes_ , she will not be a part of some freaking love-triangle, _no thank_ _you_. She grabs her backpack before Brad can offer to carry it for her – he already tried when they were all waiting for Peter at the airport, and she knows he’s just trying to be nice but really it just annoys her to be perfectly honest – and follows the others inside the hotel.

Mr Dell tells them to drop their bags in their rooms and to come back downstairs immediately because they have to be at the Da Vinci museum at 3. It’s already almost noon, and MJ is excited to have some free time and visit a little before the museum. They’re only staying in Venice until the next day, and it’s always been a city she’s been curious to see. The rooms have been agreed on already, and she knows she’s sharing hers with Betty.

Her friend grabs the key to their room, and they follow everyone else upstairs. MJ ignores the weird rush inside her when she sees that Peter and Ned’s room is just across the hall from her and Betty’s room. Everything is fine. Everything is good. No need to panic or overthink anything.

“So, what’s going on between you and Peter?”

_Crap_. MJ sets down her backpack on one of the wobbling beds, feigning nonchalance when in fact she’s internally freaking out completely. She can feel Betty’s eyes on her back and she hates it. What can she say? What can she do? “Um, nothing?” Oops, wrong inflection.

“Oh my gosh I knew it!” her friend exclaims, slumping on MJ’s bed to study her face more closely. “You’re blushing.”

“Am not.”

Betty gives her an assessing look at that but doesn’t say anything. MJ pointedly ignores her, debating whether or not to take her jacket with her. She decides she doesn’t need it, then grabs her handbag and stuffs her wallet, phone and other things she thinks she might need during the afternoon out exploring Venice. Then she looks up to meet Betty’s knowing eyes, sighing deeply despite herself. “Ready?”

“I see through you, Jones,” Betty retorts with narrowed eyes, and MJ rolls her eyes at that, cheeks a little flushed again.

“Yeah, yeah.”

They get out of their room, and _of course_ MJ almost bumps into Peter as she does. They both laugh nervously, his left hand hovering over her elbow like he’s about to catch her if she falls, and it sends shivers down her spine. They go down the stairs together, and when their hands accidentally brush MJ thinks she’s definitely going to lose her mind during this trip. Tiny sparks of electricity climb up her arm and she just grabs the strap of her handbag to avoid more distractions. She cannot handle this, she thinks.

Once everyone is ready, they leave the hotel and head to St Mark’s Square. It’s an approximately twenty-minute walk to get there, and MJ just relishes in the fact that she’s here. The closer they get to St Mark’s Square, the more packed with people it gets, but she doesn’t mind it half as much as she thought she would. She’s kind of flanked by both Peter and Brad the entire walk there, and it’s actually fun to see how different the two of them are.

While Peter walks quietly beside her, smiling every time their gazes meet and overall being kind of shy and awkward, Brad on the other hand is walking like he owns the place and commenting on everything. MJ thinks she might have appreciated his confidence once upon a time, but he’s also very _very_ talkative, and that’s not something she digs really. Well, Peter _is_ the type to ramble too, especially when he gets nervous or passionate about something, but yeah. That’s when she realizes she’s constantly comparing Brad to Peter, and she internally makes a face at that.

Yeah, there’s no room for Brad there clearly, she’s gonna have to make him understand that. _Ughh_.

They make it to St Mark’s Square, _la_ _Piazza San Marco –_ she loves the Italian language, such a musical tongue – and it’s loud and crowded and filled with tourists and pigeons, and somehow MJ still loves it. She can’t stop smiling, detailing the buildings around the piazza, the Campanile, the Basilica, everything, and she thinks to herself she really wants to _draw_. She usually only draws people, never buildings, but there’s something very appealing to the ones surrounding them right now, even though she can’t quite say _what_ exactly. Maybe it’s just the vacation mood taking over her.

They exchange their dollars for euros and then with Ned, Betty, Peter and Brad, they all go looking for something to eat. There are so many _gelaterie_ everywhere MJ really only wants ice cream, but she lets herself be convinced to grab some pizza first. They eat on some steps near the Grand Canal in the shade of a pine tree, the wind coming from the sea giving her goosebumps, and she loves it. Her heart is full as she talks and jokes around with her friends, and it’s amazing. She’s sitting next to Peter, their shoulders brushing every now and then, and it’s making her heart swell every time. She doesn’t think it could get better than this…

Except then she does. While Ned and Betty decide to get their portrait done by some caricaturist on St Mark’s Square, she glances at Peter and the _possibilities_ become a little overwhelming. She feels quite anxious again, because she doesn’t think she could handle any of _that_ with him, since she obviously has no idea how to get any of _that_ in the first place anyway. But then Peter looks up and meets her eyes with one of his shit-eating grin, and she kind of forgets about it all, focusing on the _now_ instead. She doesn’t think she’s ready to just go and ask him out – nope, she gets all stressed out by the sole thought of it, it’s ridiculous – but maybe one day?

Who knows what could happen anyway? Vacations are supposed to be where unusual, _impromptu_ stuff happens right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS, we've made it, we're in Venice!! xD  
> Hope you enjoyed this, thank you so much to all of you for your love and support, it means a lot to me in crappy times like these ♥  
> Please stay safe everyone, and take care of your loved-ones


	10. "Boh."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Brad pisses Peter off, Peter buys something important, and MJ gets bohd.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS  
> GUYS  
> This is it, we're at the turning point! After this chapter, we're off the Far From Home route and on to a new one!  
> This is exciting! :D

**Chapter 10**

**“Boh.”**

“Alright I want my _gelato_ now.”

“MJ’s right, let’s go grab some it’s already almost 2.”

Peter frowns, a little annoyed, and Brad somehow looks smugly at him while MJ’s not looking. Things are going great between MJ and him, and yet Brad is always around and yes, Peter admits it, it’s pissing him off. It’s not that he doesn’t like Brad, but yeah, the most he’s around, the most he realizes he actually _doesn’t_ like him at all. He obviously likes MJ too, and Peter hates it, there, he’s said it.

Glancing at his phone he bites his lip, a little conflicted. On one hand he definitely doesn’t want to leave MJ and Brad alone – Ned and Betty are getting their portrait done by some caricaturist on St Mark’s Square – but on the other hand he really needs to get going if he wants to find MJ’s necklace before they go visit the Da Vinci museum. He’s not entirely sure they’ll have free time after that, and since they’re leaving for Paris the next day…

“I’ll uh, I’ll leave you guys to it,” he tells them, biting down his irritation, “I have to um, check something first, I’ll see you guys at the museum?”

MJ frowns at that, narrowing her eyes at him, and he chuckles nervously, scratching the back of his neck. Something’s changed since they’ve arrived in Venice, and he must say he really likes it. She doesn’t seem as reserved as she was on the plane, like the little ‘incident’ when they were waiting to go through customs unblocked something. Peter isn’t really sure how to explain it, but somehow he’s more and more convinced now that she likes him. She sat down next to him when they were eating their pizza, and the couple of times their shoulders brushed she didn’t jerk away. It has to mean something right?

“Perfect, see you later then,” Brad nods, apparently deeply satisfied by this turn of events, and clearly Peter almost changes his mind because of it. He doesn’t though. He really needs to grab the necklace if he wants to follow his plan. Which he does. The plan is more important than stupid Brad, right? Peter doesn’t know if MJ likes Brad or not, honestly he really cannot tell. She appears casual – or neutral? – when they’re interacting, and yes Peter is a little worried, despite his now almost certainty that she _likes_ _him_.

“Disappearing again uh?” MJ asks, still frowning suspiciously, and Peter feels himself blush.

“What? What are you talking about, I don’t… disappear…?” He’s not sure why his inflection turned his sentence into a question, but from MJ’s expression he’s pretty sure she’s not satisfied with his half-ass assessment. He doesn’t want to lie to her, trying to find a satisfying explanation, but then she beats him to it and shrugs.

“Right, see you later then, dork.” She waves a little dismissively, and Peter thinks anxiously she might be pissed at him for some reason, but then she walks past him with a smirk and pokes him in the side and his brain becomes all fuzzy again. He has to make a conscious effort to stop watching her walk away with Brad. She really _has_ to like him to act like that, right?

He really wishes he could be more certain of that, but he has no idea how.

Except by reaching the end of his plan and tell her how _he_ feels, and hopefully she’ll tell him then. He’s growing impatient, oscillating between nervousness and excitement when he thinks about it. He cannot wait to be in Paris. _La ville de l’amour_. Ah, but first, the next step to fulfill his plan is to buy the necklace. That’s his self-assigned task for the day. He really needs to get a grip, stop standing there like an idiot and just go buy it.

Peter looked it up on the internet beforehand so he knows exactly where he has to go. He even looks up the translation for ‘I’m looking for a black Dahlia necklace’ in Italian before he walks into the small shop. He ends up having to repeat it in English though, but he’s still proud of himself for trying. Maybe he could ask MJ for some tips, she seems to know Italian really well. That would be pretty awesome.

The man selling him the necklace is very nice, he gets him exactly what he asked for, and Peter cannot help the surge of enthusiasm holding the necklace gives him. It’s perfect. The man wraps it up in protective paper in a nice little box, Peter gives him his money, and then he’s out. Checking the time he sees he has another half hour before he has to be at the Da Vinci museum. His GPS tells him it’s not that far so he takes his time walking, head lost in thought, clenching the little bag in his hands like a treasure.

**x**

MJ was having a nice time, but then Peter had to go and ruin it. Oh well, she’s not being fair, he didn’t ruin anything _per se_ , the dork seemingly had something to ‘check’ – his words, not hers – and left half an hour ago, therefor leaving her alone with _Brad_. It’s not really Peter’s fault. How could he foresee that doing so would have her ending up as a pigeon perch model in the middle of Saint Mark’s Square? No one would have seen that one coming really, she thinks to herself. Granted, it was fun, _somehow_ , although she didn’t like it much that Brad took her picture. She’s very glad no bird poo of any kind was involved in this particular experience too.

And now she’s also glad she managed to ditch Brad. With all his pigeon madness she never got to her precious ice-cream. Stupid boys and their stupid ideas. She took her chance when they crossed path with Zach and Sebastian and Brad started talking to them, pretending she had to tell Betty something. Now she’s wandering around, hopefully heading towards the Rialto bridge. They saw it already on the boat ride from the airport to the hotel, but MJ really wants to see it from a little closer. Well, from the above at least, and not just going under it.

It’s getting quite crowded, so she figures she’s getting closer, but since she doesn’t appreciate excited tourist crowds that much she decides to take a little break to recharge. And finally eat her ice-cream. She walks into a gelateria, very intent on getting her sweet tooth satisfied, but then the extremely appealing smell of coffee hits her and she ends up ordering one espresso – then another one – because obviously jet lag. She figures it’s okay that it’s already her third coffee of the day when she never actually drinks coffee otherwise. Trying new things during vacation is a thing right?

She’s beginning to consider ordering another one when she catches sight of a familiar dork face outside and, without even thinking, she jumps from her seat and gets out of the ice-cream place to catch up to him. Peter’s eyes are set on a little bag and he has on his face one of the cutest smile she’s ever seen from him, and it does weird things to her heart if she’s being honest with herself. Which in retrospective she is, and has been ever since they set foot in Venice. Oh well.

She doesn’t even have to think to come up with a way to catch the dork’s attention, and it feels really nice because for once she doesn’t feel awkward talking to him. This is progress. This is good. She tells him about ‘ _Boh_ ’, that wonderful Italian word she just learned about from observing a group of Italians in the gelateria. She even demonstrate the word’s true power by shoeing away a man who tries to sell them roses, and obviously Peter looks impressed – who wouldn’t, right?

“Boh is my new superpower,” she tells him, squinting in the summer sun, “it’s like the anti-aloha, I was born to say this word.” Peter smiles, and she almost shivers at how nice it feels to just _talk_ to him. Oh wow she’s so far gone it’s actually insane. And all it took to set things in motion was a very long plane ride, accidental touches – some more accidental than others – and a very cute game at baggage claim. Impressive.

He’s still clutching the little bag in his hand, and she gets curious, wondering if it’s the thing he had to ‘check’ and what’s inside, so she asks him about it. He hesitates for a second, and then a sly smile stretches his lips and he just says with a shrug: “Boh.”

_I don’t know, get out of my face_. MJ’s heart swells in her chest instantly and she smirks at him. “Nice.” Peter seems quite proud of himself and she resumes walking to hide how her smirk turns into a full-on grin. He’s such a dork. How can she like it so much, she has no idea. She wants to tell him she’s a little pissed at him for abandoning her with Brad, but she doesn’t.

They walk for a little while in silence, and she’s so focused on how nice it feels to be here with him that it takes her at least five minutes to even realize they’re kinda walking the wrong way if they want to get to the Da Vinci museum in time. She sees him carefully put the little bag in his backpack and she grins again. She’s really curious to know what’s inside, but she doesn’t ask again. _Boh_ means what it means, she knows it. She loves how he turned the tables on her with it – _l_ _ikes_ , not loves, damn it.

“Um, I think we’re going the wrong way,” Peter says shyly at some point, and she has a hard time not bursting out laughing at his careful expression, like he’s not sure what she’s gonna say to that.

“Yeah, I know,” she nods with a face, biting down her smile, and Peter’s eyes light up when they meet hers. “Come on, we’re gonna be late.” She turns around and he does too at the same time, their shoulders bumping in the process, and her heart jumps in her chest once again. She meets his eyes again, and they’re playful and teasing, and yep she’s definitely gonna lose her mind during this trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for not diving too much into the "Boh" conversation, I chose not to because I already wrote it from MJ's POV in another story of mine (Go read 67% sure nudgenudgewinkwink xD) but I hope you still enjoyed this! :D  
> May I say, you guys are the best and I see and appreciate each and everyone of you who read this story ♥


	11. “Give me a weapon and a tiny dragon, and I’ll free China in a sec.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: "Nice catch", "I could definitely work with a mace", and "HA! Suck it Brad".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like this title, what do you guys think? :D  
> ATTENTION: important announcement in the endnotes of this chapter!

**Chapter 11**

**“Give me a weapon and a tiny dragon, and I’ll free China in a sec.”**

Their hands brush a couple of times as they walk towards the rendezvous point, and Peter is positively sure he’s now losing his mind because of it. Then MJ grabs the strap of her handbag, and it doesn’t happen again. Peter’s not sure if he’s grateful or disappointed to be honest. He wonders what it would feel like to walk hand in hand with her in the beautiful streets of Venice. Oops, and now he’s blushing again. Hopefully she doesn’t notice.

They wave at Ned and Betty who are getting ready to step out of their gondola ride, and as they wait for them Peter tries not to imagine himself in a gondola with MJ because that’s just very distracting really. Then his Peter tingle suddenly explodes and without even thinking he springs into action. A toddler runs in between MJ and him, dangerously close to the edge of the dock, and Peter grabs him under the armpits, catching him before he inevitably falls into the canal. “Hey there little one, you probably should wait for your parents,” he tells the little boy with a smile, setting him down carefully and crouching to be at his eye level. “Hi, I’m Peter.”

“ _Baba_ ,” the toddler tells him, all smiles and giggles. A very worried looking woman stops next to him, hauling the baby in her arms, and thanks him profusely in German, then in English, and Peter just smiles and says it’s nothing. They exchange a few words then she leaves with her very happy toddler, and Peter meets MJ’s curious eyes and blushes instantly.

“What?” he asks, scratching the back of his neck, very nervous all of a sudden.

“Nothing,” MJ shrugs and purses her lips, and Peter really wishes he could hear what she’s thinking because he definitely cannot tell from her expression. “Nice catch.”

Peter clears his throat with a nervous chuckle, not entirely sure how to respond to that, but luckily for him Betty and Ned meet up with them and the four of them start heading towards the Da Vinci museum. Peter kind of hoped he could talk to Ned and tell him he got the necklace, but apparently his hand is glued to Betty’s so he doesn’t even try. He really wants to keep it a secret, and he’s pretty sure if Betty hears about it she’ll tell MJ since they’re sharing a room and everything. This reminds him that his room is right across the hall from MJ’s at the hotel, and he gulps awkwardly at the very distracting thought.

They make it to the Da Vinci museum being only eight minutes late, which Peter thinks is quite honorable really – he’s done way worse, to be honest. But it doesn’t even matter anyway because apparently the museum is closed today. There’s a collective grunt from the group at the news, and as Mr Harrington and Mr Dell argue about what they should do then, Peter, Ned, Betty and MJ go sit on some steps on the edge of the small canal in front of the closed museum – thank _Thor_ Brad is busy talking with Zach and doesn’t tag along.

While Ned and Betty are apparently very busy making googly eyes at each other – this is very weird, Peter thinks, although he is happy for his best friend – MJ takes out a small notebook and a pencil and starts drawing. Peter does his best not to stare to much, but he really enjoys the way her forehead scrunches up in concentration as she shapes the lines of the small bridge to their left. “I didn’t know you drew buildings too,” he tells her after a little while, not missing the tiny smile stretching her lips before she shrugs.

“I don’t, usually. But this place…” she hesitates a second, seemingly looking for her words, “I don’t know, it’s really beautiful.”

“It is,” Peter nods. She glances at him for a second, and they both smile before she goes back to her drawing. He looks down at his feet, letting his gaze run along the gray water, and he thinks about the necklace in his backpack. He cannot wait to give it to her. His anxiety is still lurking at the back of his mind obviously, but most of what he’s feeling right now when he thinks about it is actually impatience. He’s pretty sure she’s gonna like it. Oh man he really hopes she does.

He’s brought back to reality by the sound of fluttering wings and glances past MJ to see a pigeon quietly approaching her in a set of little jumps, visibly curious. Peter smiles and points out in a quiet voice to avoid scaring the bird away: “You have a new friend.”

MJ looks up her drawing for a second then nods absentmindedly. “Yeah, they love me apparently.”

“Really?”

She hums, adding a couple of details to her bridge – who’s shaping up quite nicely if you ask Peter –, then glances at him. “Mhm, when you left earlier to go do whatever you wanted to do I ended up as a perch for at least four of them. Brad took a picture.”

“Oh.” Peter tries and fails entirely to hide the frown on his face at the mention of Brad’s name. It doesn’t go unnoticed at all as MJ looks curiously at him with a tiny smirk that sends ‘mayday’ signals throughout his brain. Quick, say something before she does. “Wow, it probably makes you a Disney princess then right? Like Snow White or Aurora.” The words aren’t even completely out of his mouth that he’s already cursing himself for how idiotic of him it was to say something like that.

MJ opens her mouth, surprise flashing across her face for half a second before she frowns deeply. “How dare you Parker,” she scolds, but her eyes are playful and Peter allows himself to breathe again, deeply relieved that she’s not pissed at him. “I’m no Disney princess. If I was though, I’d clearly be Mulan,” she adds with a serious nod, working on the shade of the bridge she’s still drawing. “Give me a weapon and a tiny dragon, and I’ll free China in a sec.”

“Sounds about right,” Peter laughs, and he really likes the amused side look she gives him. He lays back on his hands a little, narrowing his eyes as he looks up to the bright sky. “What would your weapon of predilection be then?”

MJ’s pencil stills at that, and Peter grins at the instant look of thoughtful thinking on her face. “Uh, that’s a good question…” she says, her voice trailing off as she ponders.

“I’d totally see you with an axe or a mace,” Ned slips into their conversation and Peter looks at him, then back at MJ, grinning even more at the sudden wonder in her eyes.

“Ooh, a _mace_ ,” she nods enthusiastically, closing her notebook and putting it back in her handbag. “Nice one Leeds, I could definitely work with a mace.” Peter chuckles and she smirks at him, but before he can say he would very much like to see her with a mace Mr Harrington calls the four of them back to announce what Mr Dell and him decided they would do since the museum they specially came to Venice for in the first place is closed.

MJ quickly stands up, and to Peter’s greatest surprise she extends her hand to help him back on his feet. He grabs it without hesitating, heart pounding in his chest, and maybe it’s just him but he really thinks their hands fit perfectly just like that. It’s the second time today they hold hands, _well_ , not exactly holding hands since it’s only lasted a second both times, but it’s still something he never would have guessed would happen. Honestly, it definitely makes him feel light-headed. MJ drops his hand and gives him a small, maybe a little shy smile, and alongside Ned and Betty they make their way back to their group in silence.

They end up visiting St Mark’s Clock Tower and a small part of the Correr Museum, and it’s overall an interesting afternoon, albeit exhausting. Peter is a little annoyed because all his efforts to spend some time with MJ are ruined by stupid Brad who’s constantly getting in the way, but then he realizes something that makes his affection for MJ even stronger than it already is: she doesn’t care in the slightest.

Anytime he or Brad – or anyone else for that matter – try to grab her attention, she just softly hums and keeps looking at whatever she’s looking, barely paying attention to anything else but the pieces of art that interest her. And while Brad keeps trying and trying, after a little while Peter just decides to stand back and enjoy the visit – and enjoy watching MJ enjoy the visit, yes, that too. And he realizes it makes sense, and it fits her as well. She doesn’t need either Brad or him or anyone to have a nice time, she doesn’t need anyone to point out to her what’s interesting and what’s not. She’s independent, she’s confident, she’s amazing. It makes Peter feel very fond of her, and also quite grateful too, because now he knows the time she spends with him is time she’s probably _making_ for him because she wants to.

And that’s definitely a very nice feeling.

By 5:45 the entire group is kind of over it, and Mr Harrington and Mr Dell decide they should probably head back to the hotel. They still have to walk back there, and with the lack of sleep and the jet lag they’re all a little sleepy and/or grumpy. On the way back Flash suggests they could stop somewhere and eat, and they all kind of agree and find a small empty restaurant that agrees to serve their group of 14. The two waiters even help them move tables around to make one long one where they can all sit together. MJ sits at one end of the table and Brad beats Peter to it and sits next to her, so Peter chooses to sit in front of her, with Ned to his left.

He’s a little disappointed and annoyed once again, but then he looks up from his menu and meets her eyes and smirk, and he thinks maybe being across the table from her might actually be even better. He may or may not also think something along the line of ‘ _ha! Suck it, Brad._ ’, but if so he definitely keeps it to himself, _obviously_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like how I ended this chapter (it's important to appreciate your own work okay LOL) Hope you liked it too! :D
> 
> **Important announcement incoming:**
> 
> I'm going to swap from updating every two days to updating every three (or four, haven't decided yet) days, because I'm currently working on the Spideychelle Week prompts, which means 7 new projects where I try (and hopefully not fail) to write one-shots, so there you go! (I also really want to work on my other multi-chapter fic because I feel bad about not updating it since I started this one xD)
> 
> Anyway, hope that's okay with you, once again thanks for all the kudos and comments, you guys are the best!! ♥


	12. “Pfff, pasta? That’s even worse.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Pizza, lasagna and ice cream, Brad is a little more annoying, and Peter might be a little jealous?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It felt so weird to not post this chapter yesterday :O  
> (Yes I know I'm the one who decided this in the first place but xD)  
> Hope you like this one! :D

**Chapter 12**

**“Pfff, pasta? That’s even worse.”**

MJ doesn’t have to think too much before she settles on the lasagna. After that, she leans back on her chair and pretends to keep looking at her menu when she’s in fact observing Peter. She’s been doing this all afternoon, yes, she admits it. Luckily he doesn’t seem to have noticed. Something happened earlier. Something that got her curious and a little suspicious as well. She’s had a theory about him for a while now, ever since the whole Washington fiasco in Sophomore actually. She’s never really put much more thought into it, but with what happened earlier, she’s found herself thinking about it again. Pondering. Analyzing.

Because he was fast, way faster than humanly possible, she thinks. The little kid came blasting in between them, and she barely had the time to register him that Peter had already caught him in his arms, preventing him from falling into the canal. And MJ takes pride in herself for always seeing things. She pays attention. She was looking at his face when it happened, and she saw something. Peter’s eyes weren’t on the ground where he could’ve seen the little kid running, or even towards the dock where he was coming from. No, Peter was actually watching Ned and Betty get out of their gondola, in the opposite direction from where the toddler was coming.

He didn’t see him. He couldn’t have heard him over the chatter of excited tourists either. Still, somehow, he _sensed_ him. MJ cannot explain it, she doesn’t know enough she thinks. But she can theorize. Her best guess is that he’s not _just_ Peter Parker. It wouldn’t surprise her much that he’s hiding something. Everyone has secrets after all. She’s really curious to know if _his_ secret is a red and blue spandex one.

Right now Peter doesn’t look very Spider-Man-like though. He seems tired and also kind of lost in trying to find what he wants to eat, which is probably due to the fact that the entire menu is in Italian. She gives him a couple of minutes, and then she can’t help it anymore and bumps one of his shoe with her own to catch his attention. “That’s what you get for taking Spanish,” she tells him with a smirk, delighted to see the tip of his ears instantly grow red. “Need some help, loser?”

He pouts like the cute dork he is and she raises an interrogative eyebrow which makes him chuckle. Then he licks his lips, apparently deep in thought, and MJ kind of loses it just a little, almost missing him say his next words: “Yeah, that’d be great actually.”

“What d’you wanna eat?” she asks, reaching across the table to lower his menu and point him to the right section. When he says pizza she glances judgmentally at him and he chuckles again. “Really, pizza again? Very _cliché_ , Parker.”

“Oh yeah?” he snorts, “what are _you_ having then?”

“Lasagna.”

“Pfff, pasta? That’s even worse,” he tells her with fake disdain, and she has a hard time concealing her laugh because he looks ridiculous. She clears her throat and sees from his amused expression she’s not fooling him one bit. Oh well.

“Alright then what do you suggest?” she retorts, and she really likes the small glint of challenge in his eyes at that. He wipes out his phone and starts typing on it, and MJ rolls her eyes. “What are you doing?”

“Ah, perfect,” he says, ignoring her entirely, and she briefly considers kicking him in the shin for it, “here, _10_ _essential food and drinks to try in Venice_.” He shows her the article with a triumphant grin and she rolls her eyes again, smiling to herself as he begins to scroll down, apparently deeply focused. Damn it, she really likes him too much for her own sake. “Wow, lots of fish in here…”

“And that surprises you for a city literally built _on_ the sea?” she snorts, and Peter pouts again.

“Right, okay it does make sense…”

“Yeah it does.”

“Alright alright, hmm, how about squid ink risotto?” He suggests, looking up from his phone to meet her eyes with raised eyebrows. She’s not sure what’s written on her face but it apparently makes him laugh, and he puts his phone back in his pocket. “Yeah I think I’ll stick to pizza,” he tells her, nodding to his menu with a smirk, and she shakes her head, her cheeks hurting a little from trying not to smile. She’s pretty sure Peter knows because he kind of looks smugly at her, and she just barely resists the urge to bump his shoe again or something.

Then realization strikes her and she panics for a second. Are they _flirting_?

She doesn’t have time to dwell on that very distracting thought though, because Ned suddenly asks: “Hey guys, what does antipasti means?”

“Starters,” MJ translates instantly and Ned thanks her with a nod.

“You’re so smart MJ,” Brad tells her appreciatively, and she glances at him, surprised that he managed to keep quiet long enough for her to forget he was sitting next to her. He wasn’t as discreet and quiet during the afternoon, she thinks with a mental sigh. She really needs to do something about him before he gets his hopes too high. Ughh.

“I know,” she deadpans, and doing so she catches Peter’s small grin from the corner of her eyes, which sends weird tickles in her belly. They ask her to translate more words for them for a little while, and then the waiter comes back and take their orders. It’s overall pretty quiet after that, probably because everyone is tired from their day.

While they wait for their food, MJ munches on some olives and downs two cups of water, trying not to glance too often in Peter’s direction. Brad tries to engage conversation with her, but she just vaguely hums and he gives up after a couple of times. Hopefully he takes the hint. Having suitors is exhausting – or maybe that’s just the 9-hour flight and 4-hour sleep in total in the last 24 hours that’s talking.

It gets better when their food arrives. The group’s spirit lightens up tangibly, which is a fun observation, and conversations start again, more lighthearted and lively than before. MJ laughs as Ned literally beams over how good his _Carbonara_ pasta are, and when Brad asks her what her favorite food of all time is she lets herself answer without much thinking. An animated debate follows up between Brad, Zach and her on the best flavor of ice-cream, and MJ admits it, it’s always a lot easier to talk with people when one’s belly is full.

The topic switches to the worse food they’ve ever eaten, and Ned and Betty join the debate. While MJ tells them about her worst culinary experience, Brad backs up everything she says like she’s carrying God’s word or something, which is kind of fun but also very obvious of what he wants. She doesn’t pay much attention to it because she doesn’t care, up until she realizes Peter is a lot quieter than he usually is. Glancing at him she sees him frowning, eyes set on Brad’s face in obvious annoyance, and she has to bite down her smirk.

He looks pissed, but he’s also trying to hide it and doing a poor job overall, just like earlier this afternoon when she’d mentioned Brad taking her picture on St Mark’s Square. It becomes even more apparent when Brad pays her another seemingly heartfelt compliment and she absentmindedly smiles to him. From the corner of her eyes she sees Peter shift uncomfortably in his seat and scratch his eyebrow to hide his frown, and it sends a surprising wave of warmth through her entire body than she cannot blame on her lasagna because they’re almost cold by now.

It happens a few more times over the course of dinner, and it leads MJ to ask herself a very specific question that sends butterflies in her stomach. _Is he jealous?_ She wouldn’t have pegged him to be of the jealous type, but to be fair Brad _is_ quite obnoxious and annoying tonight. Peter also seems to be fighting himself to hide it, and yes, sue her she finds it cute and endearing. She should be pissed she thinks, because she’s not some lottery prize these two have to fight over for, and she’s pretty sure she _would_ be pissed if it was Brad who looked so jealous from seeing her talk to Peter – although, maybe he does that too, but she has no idea because honestly, she doesn’t care.

She likes that Peter doesn’t get sucked in Brad’s stupid game of ‘who can woo MJ the best’. Despite his occasional deep frown when Brad says something openly flirtatious, he behaves like Peter Parker always does, and yes, MJ likes it. It’s weird, but she kind of feels the need to tell him that much. She’s pretty sure he’s picked up on how annoyed Brad is making her – despite the fact that Brad himself absolutely hasn’t, which is kind of impressive in itself – but a weird urge has her want to make it clear to Peter that there’s nothing to be jealous of in the first place.

And she absolutely cannot explain it to herself. She’s not someone who cares much about other people’s feelings, if she has something to say that could potentially hurt a little she will say it. She’s not one to discard people’s feelings either, but in choosing whether to tell the truth and hurt someone, or keep things to herself and preserve said someone, MJ’s pretty sure she will always choose the first one. She’s blunt and honest, she always has been. Maybe that’s why she feels this sudden need to tell him the truth? The truth that he really doesn’t need to be jealous because clearly nothing’s ever gonna happen between Brad and her. That’s the truth for now. She doesn’t feel ready for more truth to be spilled, she thinks. That makes sense though right?

Oh but she knows it’s not that, or at least not _just_ that. She doesn’t want him to worry. She doesn’t want him to feel unpleasant things because a douche is monopolizing her attention and trying to get her to like him. Which is weird, and a little unlike her, but maybe not that much? Ughh, he’s making things so confusing for her, she hates it. Except she doesn’t hate it at all actually. It’s a little scary yes, but it’s also intriguing too, and it makes her want to put on her lab coat and study it all under a microscope. Poke at it, test it, understand it.

After all, she’s always been a scientist at heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what do you think? :D Time to roast Brad again? LOL I love how everyone is united in their dislike of Brad xD  
> Thanks to all of you guys for reading!! ♥


	13. "Well um, goodnight then?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: a mind control antenna, Betty being a smartass, and a cute hallway encounter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS, GUYS!  
> Guess who's the idiot who couldn't wait another day to post this chapter? :D
> 
> It's a long one too. Couldn't wait to have you guys read it. I know I say that to each and everyone of you every time, but man do your kudos and comments make me the happiest person in the world ♥

**Chapter 13**

**“Well um, goodnight then?”**

Peter spends his entire dinner trying not to punch Brad in the face. It takes all his willpower to achieve that, honestly. It helps – a little – to know that if he did punch him as hard as he wants to, Brad would probably end up in the hospital, if not worse, so yeah. Plus Peter knows it would be a big no-no for MJ. He instinctively knows what she would say if he did punch Brad in the face, and how probably disgusted she would look. And he definitely doesn’t want that.

So that’s how he manages to deal with Brad’s constant ass kissing throughout dinner.

And honestly, Peter deeply admires MJ’s patience, because Brad can _not_ take a hint. Maybe Peter’s biased because if she’s annoyed then it means she doesn’t like Brad, and if she doesn’t like Brad then she probably maybe likes _him_ , but in any case he thinks it’s pretty obvious that she _is_ annoyed by Brad after a while. But it’s not Peter’s place to say anything though, and he knows it – even though he really wishes he could, because that guy is seriously _so_ obnoxious.

It’s barely 8 pm when they get out of the restaurant, so Mr Harrington and Mr Dell tell them they can still walk around before coming back to the hotel. They set the curfew to 9:30 and everyone fans out, some heading back to the hotel, and others not. Ned and Betty decide to go back, and Peter glances at MJ, not entirely sure what to do. He’s surprised to meet her gaze, and he instantly looks away like he’s been caught red handed. Then he thinks to himself it was pretty stupid because if he met her eyes it probably means that _she_ was looking at him in the first place.

So he glances at her again, and she’s watching him with the tiniest smile that sends his heart raging in his chest. She raises an eyebrow at him like a question, and Peter’s mind turns off for a second. He’s probably misunderstanding this. Why would she look at him expectantly like this? Does she want to know what he wants to do? Does she wanna… hang out with him?

He’s about to open his mouth to say something – he still has no clear idea what exactly – but then Brad walks up to MJ and smiles brightly at her. “Hey Em, do you wanna maybe walk around together for a little while?” He peaks at Peter and adds smugly, “You know, just you and me?”

Peter is not sure how someone can be that stupid. If it had been him that MJ was looking at like that, he would have probably run away for his life. He’s Spider-Man, he’s dealt with scary before, numerous times to be honest, but the way MJ is looking at Brad right now? That’s real scary. Somehow though Brad doesn’t pick up on it apparently. He’s still smiling expectantly at MJ, and she takes a sharp breath before giving him a closed-lip smile.

“Yeah, I’m good,” she tells him blankly, “I’m actually gonna stay with Peter.”

Peter’s mind freezes just a little at that, but then Brad is looking daggers at him and he raises his eyebrows at the douche, trying not to smile as smugly as he really wants to. There’s a moment of silence, and then he mumbles an ‘ _alright_ ’ and walks away like a sulking toddler. Peter looks over to MJ and sees her shaking her head with a sigh.

“Idiot,” she mutters under her breath, and Peter bites his lip to prevent himself from smiling. He’s a little relieved, he must admit it. And a little stressed out as well because she did say she was staying with him. Was it just a cover to avoid Brad, or did she actually mean it? He doesn’t get the time to ask her because then she’s turning heels, her shoulder brushing against his. “Come on Parker, I’m tired,” she tells him, nodding to Ned and Betty who are already walking back to the hotel.

“Oh, okay,” he nods without thinking.

“Unless… you wanted to walk around?”

The hesitation in her voice makes him tilt, and he meets her eyes, studying her face in the light of the summer sun. It hasn’t set yet, Peter thinks it will at least last for another hour or so. They could probably walk around and that would be great, but then again he’s tired, and she seems so too. He figures that’s okay, they’re gonna have time to walk around in Paris tomorrow too right? “No that’s okay. I mean, unless you want to?”

She chuckles and shakes her head, probably amused at his uncertainty if Peter had to guess – or maybe she thinks he’s an idiot, that’s possible too. “Come on, dork,” she says with a smirk, and he lets out an embarrassed laugh. They start walking side by side in the direction of their hotel, and Peter imagines what would happen if he were to grab her hand. He likes to think she would not jerk away or scold him. He’s a little disappointed at himself for not having the guts to just do it. 24 hours in their trip and now he’s pretty sure she likes him. Which is great. Maybe he could make a move right now, maybe it would work, but then again he really likes his plan.

“So Paris tomorrow?” he says after a while, peaking at her, “Go to the Eiffel Tower, should be great.”

“I read it was secretly built as a mind control antenna to create an army of the insane,” she tells him casually, her eyes set in front of her.

“Oh.” Peter feels his heart fall in his chest as a thousand panicked thoughts cross his mind. Does this mean she hates it? Does it mean that he has to find another place to give her the necklace? He’d thought that the Eiffel Tower would be perfect, but if she doesn’t like it he needs to find another great place to give it to her asap. That’s okay, Paris is a great city, he’s sure he can find another beautiful, romantic location to complete the end of his plan right?

His mind is already set on his next google search, but then MJ speaks again and he catches his breath. “Which is why it’s my favorite destination of the whole trip,” she tells him quietly, and then their eyes meet and Peter is blown away by how close and how beautiful she is. He’s not sure if he’s imagining it or not, but he really feels like there’s a spark between them before they both look away, and it leaves him with a pounding heart and an aching smile.

**x**

They get back to the hotel and find Ned and Betty sitting in the common room talking about the places they cannot wait to see in Paris. MJ listens to them absentmindedly for a little while, and then she tells them she’s going upstairs to change and shower – avoiding Peter’s gaze at all cost as she does, because for some reason she does _not_ want to meet his eyes while talking about taking a shower. It’s making her nervous and restless and very self-conscious, so yes, it’s probably best not to think about it at all really.

The water is almost cold and the shared bathroom is not in its prime days of cleanliness to say the least, but it feels great to get out of her traveling clothes. MJ thinks it also helps clear her mind a little. It’s the first time today that she’s alone, and it’s like a breath of fresh air. She hadn’t realized how tensed she was before, but when she’s put on some clean clothes and roughly combed through her wet hair, she somehow feels like a new person. She goes over everything that happened since they left New York, and she cannot believe any of it is real, except for the fact that she knows it _is_ real obviously. She thinks about Peter, wondering if he’s still downstairs or not, wondering what he’s thinking, wondering what he wants and what he’s expecting from this trip.

What she’s expecting from this trip herself. She wasn’t expecting much 24 hours ago, but now… now the possibilities are a lot more numerous, and it’s as exciting as it is terrifying. She kind of wishes she could be more experienced in all this. But she really knows nothing, and she’s a little scared that it’ll show. Not that she thinks Peter is very experienced either – the only girl she’s ever seen him with being Liz, and that didn’t last long at all. Maybe everything’s okay. She’s just overthinking things because she’s out of her comfort zone. That’s perfectly natural.

She’s a little hesitant to go back downstairs, and she ponders long enough that it’s actually 9:30 and people are coming back. She really doesn’t want to see Brad again, so she hangs out in her room, going over the drawings she did during the afternoon. Her eyes are tingling more and more, and she’s thinking about falling asleep when Betty walks in the room. “Hey,” MJ greets her, blinking her tired eyes away.

“Hey,” Betty smiles, reaching for her bag under her bed to probably look for her pajamas. “Why didn’t you come back downstairs?” MJ just shrugs, sitting up on the bed, and Betty smirks. “Peter was all lost without you.”

“Don’t start,” she sighs, wondering if Betty can see her cheeks reddening or not. Hopefully not. Betty chuckles but doesn’t say anything else, grabbing her pajamas and heading out again, probably to take a shower too. MJ is a little – or maybe a lot – unsure of what to do. On one hand she kind of wants to see Peter again, before she goes to bed, but on the other hand the prospect of risking to see Brad is definitely not appealing. She’s dealt with that one long enough today.

She gets pretty lucky for once, because a few minutes later she hears Brad’s voice in the hallway, talking with Zach she thinks. She waits for his voice to die down and for the sound of closing doors, and then she thinks now is as good a time as any. Hopefully Peter is still downstairs, and she can pretend to… what exactly, she’s not so sure, but she’ll improvise, she decides. She’s good at that, usually.

She did not expect to run into him as soon as she opens the door. Peter looks up at her, surprise written all over his face, and she wonders what he’s doing here – was he waiting for her, or pondering whether or not to knock on her door? These questions are quite distracting, but she doesn’t get to think much about it because then he’s chuckling, running his fingers through his hair, and MJ just loses track of her thoughts. “Hey.”

“Oh hey,” she says back, leaning on the door frame, feigning casual when in fact her heart is racing. Just then Mr Dell walks by them, excusing himself, and Peter has to take a step closer to her to make way for him. Once the teacher is gone, he doesn’t move away, and MJ is both glad and stressed out by it honestly.

“You didn’t come back,” Peter points out with a shy smile, nodding to the stairs to his left, and MJ shrugs, looking down at her feet.

“Yeah no I was…”

“Tired?” he suggests, and she meets his eyes once again, a weird feeling of warmth pooling in her chest.

“Yeah.” She smiles, and he smiles back, and then they’re both looking away again, and MJ is not sure they’ve ever been this awkward and tensed with each other before. She’s not sure she knows why, but she can barely think anyway, so that’s probably a question for later. They’re both very silent, and she feels restless and very nervous because of it, so she opens her mouth to say something but he does so at the same time. “I had a–”

“Today was–” Peter cuts himself, slightly blushing, and she lets out a huff of amusement, nodding for him to continue. “Sorry ha, um, yeah today was great.”

“It was yeah,” MJ nods again, pinching her lips. “And Paris tomorrow.”

“Right, yes, it’s gonna be great,” Peter agrees, and he’s smiling shyly, and she’s pretty sure she is too. She mouths a ‘yeah’ and they keep staring at each other, and MJ feels like she’s drowning in his brown puppy eyes. She leans off of the door frame without even realizing it, and it’s like warmth is radiating from her entire body and really all she wanna do is _kiss him_.

But she can’t do that now can she? Or maybe she can? He’s looking at her like there’s nothing else in the world, and it sends shivers down her spine. She’s not sure if he’s moving closer or not. She has no idea what they’re doing. This is wonderfully terrifying. “Anyway um…” She hates herself for breaking the spell, she’s not even sure what made her do it, but for a split second Peter seems almost relieved. It goes away so fast though that she’s not sure of what she saw. “I’m uh, I’m gonna go…”

“Right yes,” he quickly nods with another shy smile, and she thinks her heart is about to beat out of her chest. “Well um, goodnight then?”

She chuckles and shakes her head, and his eyes shine with amusement. “Goodnight, dork.”

“Goodnight MJ.”

She steps back inside her room and closes the door. She lies down on her bed above the covers, gaze fixed on the ceiling. She’s glad Betty hasn’t come back from her shower yet. Because she definitely cannot get rid of her beaming smile right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you're all okay and you're staying safe during these tough times ♥  
> Also, Happy Mother's day to all the moms reading this! :D (if it's Mother's day where you live? I'm a little lost, here in France it's only on June 7th so yeah xD)  
> Lots of love to you all ♥


	14. “Wait, no, that’s not what I wanted to say!”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Some Ned time, a not very fun dream involving Flash, and an underwear quest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe we're already at chapter 14! :O  
> I'm having so much fun writing this. If I can make some of you guys half as happy as I am to write this, then honestly my job here is done! :D  
> Enjoy this chapter guys!!

**Chapter 14**

**“Wait, no, that’s not what I wanted to say!”**

“Dude.” Peter makes his way inside their shared room, closing the door quietly behind him. His best friend is sitting on his bed, laptop perched on his knees. He barely looks up from the screen when he hears him, but Peter figures that’s okay because he needs a minute to remember how to breathe and to calm down his erratic heart anyway. Once he thinks he’s a little less all over the place, he falls down on his best friend’s bed. “Ned.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m pretty sure MJ and I almost kissed just now.”

This captures Ned’s attention instantly and he looks up from his screen with a curious expression. Peter feels a surge of affection for his best friend when he closes his laptop and sets it on the side table, scooching closer to him on the bed, elbows propped on his knees. “Yeah?”

Peter nods, mouth a little dry. “Yeah, we were talking in the hallway and… I don’t know, she moved closer and I did too, and then we were just, I don’t know, staring at each other?” God, she had looked so beautiful, he still cannot believe any of this. She’d been looking at him and then she had glanced at his mouth he thinks, and honestly he had never felt this way before, like he was drawn to her and could not look away even if he wanted to – and he didn’t want to at all.

“And then what happened?” Ned urges him, and Peter feels himself blush for some reason.

“Well um, then she said she had to go, and we said goodnight to each other, but I don’t know dude we were super close and she wasn’t saying anything and just looking at me and…” Peter just takes a deep breath, avoiding Ned’s gaze because he’s not entirely sure he wants to see what’s in it just yet. There’s something else he needs to say first. “I’m kinda glad we didn’t kiss though,” he admits barely louder than a whisper. It feels very weird to say that.

“You want to go on with your plan,” Ned guesses, and Peter glances at him, a little surprised. “Eh, what kind of best friend would I be if I could not figure that out? Come on Pete, give me a little more credit please.”

That makes Peter chuckle, and he bumps Ned in the knee with a large smile that his best friend is quick to reciprocate. “Yeah, I really want to do this,” he nods, absentmindedly playing with the strings of his hoodie. “I mean, it seems to be going great and everything, like I really think she likes me but…”

“You want to do this right,” Ned completes wisely, and Peter nods again. “It makes sense. Reminds me of how Betty and I first fell in love, I had just finished my fruit cobbler and –”

He’s cut by a light knock on the door and the voice of Betty asking him what he’s doing, and Ned springs up to his feet to go talk to her, leaving Peter alone in the room with an amused smile. He lies down on Ned’s bed, hands behind his head, gaze turned to the ceiling, and his smile turns into a full on grin in a matter of second. Things are going great. Really great. It reminds him to send a quick text to May to tell her everything is okay, so that’s what he does. Then he takes a quick shower, and when he comes back from the shared bathroom Ned is back and tells him Betty went to bed.

They talk for a little while, almost exclusively about what they’re gonna do in Paris the next day and how excited they are to visit the city, then Peter shows him the black Dahlia necklace and Ned gets appropriately impressed. Peter tries not to talk too much about MJ because he doesn’t want to bother Ned too much, but it’s kinda hard. She’s so present in his thoughts that when they turn off the light and go to sleep, he dreams about her.

It’s not a nice dream though. He dreams he gets to the top of the Eiffel tower with her then realizes he forgot to take the necklace with him. And then that he forgot to ask MJ to come, and it’s actually just him alone at the top of the Eiffel tower, and the elevator breaks down so he has to climb down the tower to get back on the ground and his entire class is down there and they instantly figure out he’s Spider-Man and it sucks. Flash gets so excited about the news Peter has to run away from him and the entirety of his Flash mob, up until he wakes up with a start.

It’s fairly early in the morning, but Ned is already up. Peter tells him about his dream and his best friend laughs so hard he almost falls off the bed. When Mr Harrington knocks on their door to check if they’re awake they get up to grab a small breakfast from the buffet set in the hallway in front of their room. Peter is a little disappointed not to run into MJ, but then he remembers he has to rearrange his suitcase to hide his Spider-Man suit so he downs the rest of his hot chocolate and goes back to his room to take care of it.

He empties his suitcase on the bed and stashes his suit in it, but then there’s a slight knock at the door and he looks up. He must have not closed the door properly because it opens on its own to reveal the watchful face of MJ. Peter panics instantly and slams his suitcase closed, standing straight with an embarrassed laugh that horrifies him from how ridiculous it sounds. She raises an eyebrow at him then looks down at her shoes, and Peter’s heart jolts in his chest.

“Hi, sorry I didn’t mean to intrude I –”

“That’s okay,” he reassures her quickly, scratching the back of his neck with a nervous smile. “Hey MJ.”

She bites her lower lip, the corners of her mouth moving up, and Peter has to take a deep breath to keep his focus. “Hey Peter.” They stare at each other for a moment, and just like the night before Peter feels drawn to her on a molecular level. He wants to get impossibly closer, but at the same time he’s frozen in place, and honestly it’s the weirdest, most exciting thing he’s ever felt in his life – actually, right behind the first time he realized he could walk on walls, because that was, well, life altering really.

Peter’s not entirely sure how long they stay like this, but then MJ nods to his piled up clothes on the bed and asks with a smirk: “Looking for something?”

He glances to his clothes and suitcase, cheeks reddening as he tries to come up with something that doesn’t involve divulging his super secret identity. It’s tough, it’s only 8 in the morning, his brain is not used to such an early forced workout. “No, I mean, yes I mean,” he stammers looking around like an idiot under the amused eyes of MJ, “um, yeah, I’m looking for… my underwear?”

“Your underwear?” MJ repeats, and Peter blushes even harder at the mirth in her voice.

“Yeah?” Oh he hates himself so much sometimes. MJ is pinching her lips to hide her smirk, and Peter can’t help it, he pouts. “You’re making fun of me,” he mumbles, and she chuckles at that, sending his heart jumping in his chest at the delightful sound.

“Hard not to,” she retorts playfully, and Peter cannot believe how amazing it feels now to talk to her. It was difficult and very awkward at first, but now he feels like it’s a lot easier and natural. Even if most times he ends blushing and stammering like an idiot. He’s getting better at it he thinks. He wonders if she feels it too. He wonders if she appreciates it as much as he does. “Alright, have fun looking for your underwear then,” MJ teases, laying her hand on the door handle to close it.

“I will,” Peter nods, and then face-palms, “wait, no, that’s not what I wanted to say!”

MJ’s already closed the door, but he still hears her laugh from the other side, and it warms his heart – despite the fact that she’s probably only laughing because he’s an idiot. He lets out an irritated groan, hoping she can hear it, and the chuckle behind the door tells him she did. And he loves it. Is it weird for him to think they’re just great together? He’s probably very biased, but he really thinks so. Just like he thinks Ned and him were destined to be best friends, he feels like MJ and him definitely have something that makes them work great together. Is it weird? Some part of him tells him it kind of is, because they’re just teenagers and there’s no such thing as soulmates as far as he knows.

But then again, most of him is feeling it, deep in his heart and in his bones, and maybe it is weird, but he likes it. That’s not something he’s gonna spring on her right now though. He doesn’t want to scare her off. Take things slow and just enjoy the ride, he thinks. After all they kind of have their whole lives before them, right? Peter opens his suitcase, his gaze falling on his Spider-Man suit. True, there is that small matter though. He does find himself in dangerous situations sometimes.

As he puts his clothes back in his suitcase, a thought suddenly hits him. Having MJ in his life as more than friends might get weird when it’ll come to his super alter-ego. On one hand he doesn’t want to lie to her, but on the other hand, already having Ned and May know about it is too much he thinks. And that’s not even mentioning every Avenger-related person out there who knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man. All these guys are okay taking care of themselves, but there’s always a part of Peter who worries about his loved-ones getting caught in crossfire. Not that he doesn’t think they couldn’t fight back, but against enhanced villains or worse, aliens?

Yeah, that’s a pickle he definitely has to figure out.

Maybe telling her would be best? That way she knows the risks. And he doesn’t have to lie to her, even by omission. Oh but that’s okay, it’s a problem for future Peter he thinks, and that’s if they even get together in the first place. He definitely doesn’t want her to get the impression he’s using Spider-Man as a way to date her or anything.

He’s pretty sure it wouldn’t work on MJ anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed Peter Derp Parker in this chapter LOL


	15. ‘What, this is a very cramped boat okay?’

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Smartass Betty, Distracted MJ, and not very subtle Peter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what to say :O  
> (I waited an entire minute to post this at 1pm sharp for no reason LOL)

**Chapter 15**

**‘What, this is a very cramped boat okay?’**

“So what did he say?” Ned asks, looking at her expectantly, and for a second MJ just stares at him, a little lost. Then she remembers why she went to see Peter in the first place and she mentally face-palms because she completely forgot to ask him if he wanted something else to eat for breakfast or not.

Ned is staring at her, waiting for her to answer, and she clears her throat a little awkwardly, very embarrassed because she has no idea how to admit that she did not ask him, despite the fact that it was the sole reason she knocked on his door in the first place. Stupid dork talking about his underwear got her all confused and shit. “Oh, um, I uh –”

“Never mind it’s okay,” Ned says then, and MJ has to hold back a relieved sigh because that would be too obvious. “I’m gonna ask him myself anyway I’m done here.” He smiles to her, throwing his paper plate in the trash, then heads back inside their room with a small wave to her. MJ just stands there, not really knowing what to do with herself, but just as she’s about to go back inside her room, Betty appears next to her with a curious expression.

“What was that about?” she asks, and MJ makes a face.

“Oh um, nothing,” she shrugs, feigning nonchalance as she takes a look at the breakfast buffet. “Ned asked me to ask Peter if he wanted something else for breakfast and I uh…”

“You went to ask him and then you forgot?” Betty completes with a knowing look, and MJ is stupid enough to meet her eyes.

“Shut up…” she grumbles, cheeks a little red, and Betty laughs openly. “Come on, it’s not my fault he started talking about his underwear!” she complains, and then mentally face-palms once again because why the hell would she mention that to Betty?

“His what?!” her friend chokes out, letting go of the pastry she was picking up to give her her full attention. Her eyes are filled with an amused astonishment that has MJ’s cheeks flush instantly so she shakes her head, avoiding her gaze because damn it.

“Okay I’m just gonna, stop talking now, alright, just, thanks,” she mumbles, deciding against breakfast after all and pointing back to their room. As she turns though, ignoring Betty’s snicker, she comes face to face with a very smiling Brad. “Oh, hi.”

“Hey MJ,” he nods enthusiastically, “did you sleep okay?”

“Meh, not really, someone in my room kept texting their _boyfriend_ and then snored the rest of the night,” she groans, intentionally speaking loud enough for Betty to hear her.

“Right,” she snorts behind her, and MJ has a hard time not smiling. She likes Betty, she’s fun to be around with. “Like you even noticed, you were too busy daydreaming about–”

“ _Anyway_ ,” MJ cuts her friend loudly, rolling her eyes to hide her panic at the thought of Betty mentioning anything compromising. Not that she cares what Brad hears or anything, it’s just that she’s barely even come to term herself with the fact that she likes someone, so she’s definitely not about to tell everyone around. It’s nobody’s business but her own. “What about you, _Brad_?”

“Yeah I slept okay, thank you for asking,” he grins at her, and she nods a little awkwardly, not entirely sure what to do next.

She kind of just wants to go back in her room and pack the rest of her stuff, rather than stand around making small talk. She’s never liked small talk, she tends to cut straight to the interesting part of the conversation, why lose time on banalities anyway? “Cool, well um, I’m gonna go pack so –”

“Don’t you want some tea or coffee?” Brad offers, and MJ bites down an annoyed sigh.

She’s not even sure why she’s annoyed in the first place, but it’s too early to dwell on that anyway. She gives him a closed-lip smile and shrugs. “Nah I’m good.” And then, before he can try and talk to her more, she just walks past him and heads back to her room, closing the door behind her. She sits down on the bed with a sigh.

It’s interesting, from a scientific point of view of course, how exhausting it feels to talk to pretty much everyone but Peter. With Betty it’s alright she thinks, although she kind of feels like she has to be extra careful about everything she says so that she doesn’t jump to conclusion – although her friend is quite intuitive and pins her down pretty easily, despite all her efforts really. Ned is sweet, and it’s fairly easy to talk to him too, but they don’t talk much. She doesn’t even want to think about Brad. Or Flash. _Yikes_.

And then there’s Peter. It’s not that it’s easy to talk to him, in a way it’s even more difficult than with any of the others because of her stupid nerves. But he’s the only one with whom she feels _free_. She’s not sure how to explain it. Maybe he’s just the one she’s the most excited and overall happy to talk to. She cannot believe how much changed in the last day and a half. Crazy what an airplane ride and a day in a European city can do to you right?

MJ shakes her head and stands up, reaching for her backpack to pack the few things she got out of it last night. They’re leaving in roughly 15 minutes, taking another boat back to the airport. Their flight for Paris is in 3 hours, and MJ cannot wait to get there. She’s not entirely sure why, but she’s convinced that something is gonna happen in Paris. Hopefully between her and Peter.

Oh wow, she really did just blatantly hope that something would happen between them.

She’s a lost cause now, isn’t she? It’s making her heart do funny things in her chest.

Betty comes back, and they pack together, and then soon enough it’s time to go. When she steps outside the boat isn’t there yet. She sets her bag on the dock next to the others, and when she looks up Brad is there, always so smiling and handing her a disposable cup of tea. “Here,” he tells her, “I noticed you liked tea.”

“Oh, um, thanks.” She takes it with a hesitating smile, and as she brings the cup to her lips she meets Peter’s gaze in the entrance of the hotel. He’s sporting her favorite nerdy t-shirt, ‘ _If you believe in telekinesis, please_ _raise my_ _hand_.’ It’s pretty dumb, she likes it. He also hasn’t put on his flannel shirt yet. He always wears long sleeves, even in summer, and she’s just now realizing _why_.

Because the dork is absolutely _ripped_. Like no 16 year-old ever was honestly. He looks like a young Captain America, she thinks. Not that she’s ever had a crush on that very old guy. Something tugs in her belly, and her cheeks suddenly feel very hot. Luckily nobody notices. Peter grabs his shirt and puts it on in a swift gesture. Completely and utterly distracted by the sight, MJ burns her tongue on her tea and makes a face. Oops.

Instantly Brad is at her side – whoa, she’d completely forgotten about him, oops again – and asks worryingly: “I’m sorry, did I mess it up?”

“What? Oh no, I just uh, burned my tongue,” she waves him off, a little embarrassed by herself. She really needs to get a grip, honestly. So what, she saw Peter’s _arms_ , that’s nothing. Alright, the dude does look like he’s the love baby of both Steve Rogers and Thor or something, so what? That’s nothing. Nothing at all.

It takes her a little while to get her thoughts back on track, but when she does, her mind starts racing. With a body like his – not that she’s checked him out, ahem – why does Peter always wear dorkish t-shirts with long sleeves, large hoodies, and stay clear of shorts, even in PE? She’d noticed before that he was strong, and fast too. Seeing him right now, well that was just a confirmation of what she already suspected, kind of. He’s hiding something. Definitely.

She really wants to figure out what it is. She already has a little idea, obviously.

The boat arrives, and it’s time to leave. Peter helps getting all the suitcases and bags in there, and MJ tries not to stare. She manages to sit behind him, and for half the ride she watches as he tries not to turn on his seat to look at her too often. She cannot get rid of her smile, because he’s so _obvious_. She likes it. She wants to bump him in the shoulder and tease him, she wants to lean forward and talk to him about anything, she wants to rest her chin on his shoulder and point out all the things she wished they had time to visit. She doesn’t do any of those things though. Too shy. Too awkward. Too overwhelming.

Then it doesn’t matter anymore because Betty moves to sit closer to Ned, and suddenly Peter has enough room to sit with his back leaning into the side of the boat. He pretends that it’s more comfortable and that it prevents the sun from hitting him in the face – without actually saying anything, but MJ reads his face like it’s an open book, and she’s sure that’s what he’s going with in his mind. In any case, it gives him a good enough reason, not as obvious as before, to glance at her every now and then.

She acts as if she doesn’t care, or at least like she doesn’t even register it. Inside though, she’s kind of screaming. Her knees are very close to his thigh that’s propped up on the bench, close enough that once or twice they bump against it, and it’s difficult to focus on anything else if she’s being honest with herself. If she was more confident, she would have let her knees press against his thigh – like, ‘what, this is a very cramped boat okay?’ She’s not though. More _confident_. She figures that’s okay. He’s not overly confident either. They’re teenagers so it makes sense, doesn’t it?

They arrive at the airport, and everyone gets out of the boat. She’s disappointed this time because Peter is behind her and he cannot be the one to help her out of the boat. Not that she needs anyone to help her climb out of it, nope. He does hand her her backpack afterwards though, and their hands brush in the process. It sends shivers down her spine, and she thinks about the Darcy hand flex in _Pride and Prejudice_. And she smiles at the ground like an idiot.

Oh well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like this chapter, hope you do too! :D  
> Next stop: PARIS  
> Who's excited? (ME ME ME!! xD)


	16. "You're pretty good at this."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: a subway ride, a change of plan and a movie on the International Space Shuttle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, my name is Océane and I have absolutely zero self-control, meaning I cannot hold back from posting chapters when I'm done writing them, YAY!  
> Today I should have been celebrating my brother's 17th birthday with my family, but because of freaking covid-19 I am not.   
> It sucks so therefor here, take this chapter good people of AO3. It sucks less now.

**Chapter 16**

**“You’re pretty good at this.”**

Peter is a little disappointed because their flight for Paris is a very small one, and their group is all spread out in single seats so he doesn’t get to sit next to MJ. He ends up sitting between two old French ladies – very nice ones, who keep trying to talk to him despite the fact that he knows maybe two words in French – while MJ sits between a business woman with an earpiece and a laptop, and an eight year-old kid playing on his Switch. She makes a face at Peter from across the aisle when their eyes meet at the beginning of the flight, and for a little while afterwards he cannot stop smiling. His two neighbors ask him why and he tells them he’s just happy, so they gush over that for the next few minutes, making him chuckle.

The flight is rather short, and soon enough they’re already about to land. Peter glances at MJ as the plane starts to descend, and he feels a delighted jolt in his heart when he finds her already looking at him. She looks away quickly, sitting back in her seat, and Peter’s cheeks hurt a little from trying to refrain his smile, one elated thought circling through his brain for the entire landing. _She likes me she likes me she likes me she likes me_.

They land in Paris at half past noon, and as there’s about another hour of transportation to get to their hotel near the _Cité_ _des_ _sciences_ , Mr Harrington and Mr Dell announce a small break to grab something to eat at the airport. Peter buys himself a tasty sandwich and a croissant, and enjoys his lunch sitting between Ned and Zach, stealing glances at MJ who’s hanging out with Zoha and Yasmin at another table. 

She catches him a couple of times, and he feels himself blush a little, but then she’s rolling her eyes with a tiny smile tugging at her lips, just like she did in the boat earlier, when he was trying to casually look at her and failing because she was behind him and he was being the most obvious idiot ever. He couldn’t help it then, and honestly he can’t help it now either. Maybe it’s a little ridiculous, maybe he should try and stop because that’s a little creepy, he’s not sure. She doesn’t really seem to mind though, when he thinks about it. It actually looks like it’s amusing her more than anything. 

O nce they’re done eating,  Mr Harrington and Mr Dell have a hard time  trying to figure out which train they’re supposed to take to get to their hotel.  Peter listens absentmindedly  while the two teachers argue,  Ned and Betty making heart eyes at each other beside him.  MJ is standing next to Brad looking very bored as he apparently talks her ears off,  and when  Peter meets her eyes  she waves Brad off  dismissively ,  cutting him in his diatribe. “I’m just gonna go… yeah.”

A nd just like that she’s walking over and stopping next to him with a sigh, and Peter cannot help his smile.  She rolls her eyes  at his expression, then points to Mr Harrington and Mr Dell. “ So, when should we tell them there’s a map in English just behind them?”  Peter laughs at that, and MJ smirks,  before  walking to the two teachers and helping them figure things out.  After another  ten minutes of Mr Harrington buying them tickets, they board a very loud train,  and MJ sits next to Peter without him even asking, which he  obviously finds amazing. 

It’s another thirty minute ride, then they have to take the subway from the _Gare du Nord_ , the train station they stopped at. It should have been fairly quick but they take the wrong one and only realize it after 15 minutes, so they stop at the next station and take the one going the right way. It’s a little more crowded than the previous ones, and Peter and MJ stand together next to one of the automatic doors. They’re so close that sometimes their shoulders bump against each other. At some point Peter instinctively reaches for the doors to hold them open so that a mother with a couple of little kids can get in, and MJ gives him a side look that has him blush. 

MJ comes up with a game a little while after, and they have fun repeating the stations names after the announcer does. _République_ _, Jacques_ _Bonsergent_ _,_ _Gare_ _de_ _l’Est_ _,_ _Gare_ _du_ _Nord_ – “hey that’s where we stopped earlier and took the wrong train!” _–_ _Stalingrad,_ _Jaurès,_ _Laumière_. Peter is impressed at how good her accent is, so he points it out: “You’re pretty good at this.”

“What, talking?” MJ retorts, raising an eyebrow at him, and he feels his cheeks flush again. 

“No! I mean yes but um, I was just saying your uh, French accent is good,” he stammers like an idiot, and she actually laughs at him. 

“I know, dork,” she says playfully, then Peter watches as her cheeks redden a little too and she looks down at her feet. “Thanks,” she adds quietly, and possibly a little shyly as well, and Peter is overwhelmed once again by a surge of affection for her. He cannot believe how lucky he is. In a few hours, he’s finally gonna do it. The last step of his plan. He’s still a little worried it might not go as planned, because Parker luck obviously, but there’s at least one thing he’s not doubting too much anymore, and it’s that Michelle Jones most probably likes him too. 

**x**

They finally get out of the subway station, and after spending one and a half hour stuck in trains it’s definitely a relief for MJ. The sun is shining, but it’s still a little colder than it was in Venice so she keeps her jacket on.They walk for another 10 minutes before finally arriving to their hotel. It’s located near a canal, and they only have to cross a bridge to get to the park de La Villette and the City of Science and Industry they’re supposed to visit during their stay in Paris.

She shares her room with Betty again, and it’s a lot nicer than the one they had in Venice, but quite small. It doesn’t really matter anyway, because they just set down their luggage and then they’re back downstairs to meet up with the rest of the group. They’re supposed to head out again and visit the area around the Eiffel Tower today, but there’s apparently been a change of plan and they’re actually doing that tomorrow afternoon instead.

“We’re going to visit the park around the city of Science and Industry,” Mr Harrington tells the two of them, just as Peter and Ned get out of the elevator.

“Wait, we’re not going to the Eiffel Tower?” Peter asks, and there’s a slight panic in his voice that catches MJ’s attention. She glances at him, studying his frown as he walks towards them, wondering why he seems so upset. Mr Harrington explains that they’re still doing it tomorrow but that there’s a movie projection that is only available today and that he really wants them to see. Peter seems deeply disappointed, although he is obviously trying to hide it. Ned whispers something in his ear and he just shakes his head with a sadden shrug, and MJ has to admit she is very curious to know what this is all about.

They head out again, to an _Omnimax_ theater located in the City of Science, a little like the one they have at the Museum of Natural History back home. They’re projecting a movie on the International Space Shuttle, and MJ notices with a smirk that Peter’s disappointment doesn’t last much when Mr Harrington tells them about it. They arrive right as the projection is about to start, and MJ sits next to Peter, laughing to herself as she hears him ramble happily with Ned.

“It’s made in cooperation with NASA _and_ Stark Industries, this is _so_ exciting!”

The movie is great. A little overwhelming at times, but definitely an amazing experience – especially paired with an overly excited Peter Parker whispering additional information to her every now and then. She usually hates people who talk during movies, but she honestly cannot bring herself to do so right now. She really is too soft for this boy, she thinks – and doesn’t care in the slightest anymore, because why the hell not. At some point she glances at him, and he’s looking so amazed, his mouth wide open in awe, that she can’t help herself and nudges him in the arm with a smirk. He turns to look at her, his 3D glasses sliding down his nose a little, and she stifles her laughter at his surprised face. But then he’s smiling brightly at her, and her heart skips a beat at how stupidly cute he is right now – and pretty much all the time really.

Oh well.

At the end of the movie, they all head out of the theater and Mr Harrington announces some free time for everyone. The sun is shining, and the only thing MJ wants to do right now is sit down in the grass and draw. She’s had an idea for a drawing earlier, and right now would be the perfect time to do it. All she needs is her sketch pad, a pencil and some _alone_ time. She’s not sure where she’s going with that little idea of hers, but she’s felt the urge to draw this since that moment in the subway where Peter held up the doors for a mother and her kids to get in. Once again showcasing his ability to instinctively help someone out. She’s probably biased she thinks, but she’s more and more convinced that her intuition is close to the truth.

MJ expertly dodges Brad as he tries to grab her attention yet again – that one just never quits, _ugh._ She’s pretty sure Peter is gonna try too when she walks past him, but he doesn’t. He waits for her to meet his eyes, and when she does with a raised eyebrow he chuckles nervously, scratching the back of his neck. “Do you want to maybe go grab a drink or something?” he asks shyly, and she’s almost tempted to say yes.

“I’m gonna go sit down on the grass actually,” she tells him, avoiding his gaze without really knowing why. “But thanks for offering.”

“Okay,” he says, and when she looks up to meet his eyes he’s smiling, a sweet thing that makes her roll her eyes to hide the surge of fondness for the idiot growing in her heart. “See you later then.”

“See you later, dork,” she waves him off, and he chuckles. She has to force herself not to look back as she walks away, and focuses on her next task at hand: finding a good spot to sit away from everyone, and start drawing that little project of hers. She’s not even sure if she’s gonna be brave enough to show it to him, but that’s future MJ’s problem she thinks. First step, draw the actual thing. Then she’ll see if she can muster the courage to confront him with it and have him tell her the _truth_. Whatever it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, now hear me out guys. Next chapter something happens that I wanted to write as a Peter + MJ POV chapter, I tried to make it fit in this chapter because next one is supposed to be only Peter's POV, but then I thought "HANG ON A MINITE. I'm the writer I can do whatever the hell I want" so yeah, next chapter is gonna be a dual perspective one again :D   
> (I'm learning how to be more assertive and confident, it's a tough road LOL)
> 
> Thank you for reading and bearing with me in this gigantic pile of fluff of a story! ♥
> 
> Also, I've hidden a scene from a movie that I love in there, I wonder if you guys can spot it :D


	17. “Don’t be an idiot too, Parker.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: two nerds, one dumbass, and something cool. 
> 
> (I'm having a lot of fun with these summaries xD)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, guys, _guys_!
> 
> Enjoyyyyyyy

**Chapter 17**

**“Don’t be an idiot too, Parker.”**

Peter walks around with Ned and Betty for a little while. The park is especially big, with a canal running in the middle, and they quietly stroll around, taking in the nice scenery. They walk to the entrance of the _Cité_ _des_ _Sciences_ , and Ned and him geek out about all the cool stuff they’ll see the next day. There’s a temporary exhibition about spies that looks amazing, and they’re both super excited to see the planetarium and the exposition entitled ‘The Great Story of the Universe’.

When Betty gets a little bored of their geekiness, they resume their promenade. They list all the words they know in French, and Peter gets made fun of for the way he says croissant – which honestly he doesn’t get because he really thinks he’s saying it the right way anyway. He mumbles that they should ask MJ because she’s the one that’s good at French, and Betty gives him a curious look that has him blush. Luckily though she then spots Zoha and Yasmin and walks away to go see them.

He’s glad that Ned doesn’t follow her right away. He feels like a jerk because Ned really seems happy, but he’s kind of missed his best friend a little since the beginning of the trip. He’s about to tell him as much when Ned nudges him in the ribs and says with a not so subtle wink: “How do you know MJ is good at French?”

“Oh my… please tell me you’re not insinuating anything,” Peter mumbles, pinching the bridge of his nose with a sigh, intently avoiding his best friend’s eyes.

“I mean, isn’t it called _French_ kissing?” Ned retorts like it’s fairly obvious, and Peter can hear his self satisfied smile in his voice. It’s unusual for him, and Peter doesn’t really like it. Or maybe he’s just grumpy because nothing’s happened between him and MJ yet and he’s getting a little impatient.

“Yeah well I don’t know about that do I?” he whines a little, kicking a pebble away with the point of his shoe. “I was supposed to maybe figure it out this afternoon, but then Mr Harrington had to go and ruin everything.”

“I cannot in good conscience let you disrespect the exceptional movie we saw thanks to Harrington’s change of plan, Peter,” Ned chastises him, and Peter cannot help his chuckle.

“Ugh, yes alright that _was_ super cool,” he admits, meeting his friend’s eyes with a pout. “But still.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get to it,” Ned assures, bumping him in the shoulder with a smile. “It’s looking good anyway, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” he nods, feeling his cheeks grow red. “Yeah I think.”

“Where is she anyway?” Ned asks casually.

“Um, she said she wanted to sit in the grass?”

“Oh, there she is, looks like Brad found her.” Peter follows Ned’s gaze and, sure enough, there is MJ, sitting with her back against a tree, her sketch pad propped against her knees. Brad is standing a few feet from her, apparently trying to engage conversation again, and Peter makes a face. “That one isn’t smart,” Ned voices his thoughts out loud, and Peter snorts.

“Yeah.”

“I wonder why she hasn’t told him to piss off yet,” Ned wonders aloud. “Do you think she’s scared of him?”

“ _Scared_ of him?” Peter repeats in disbelief, raising his eyebrows as Ned shrugs. “No, not MJ, why would she be scared of _Brad_? He’s just an idiot.”

“I don’t know he’s all tall and buffed.” As Peter scoffs, deeply annoyed, Ned gives him an amused look. “Are you a little jealous?”

“Of him? Pfff, not at all. It’s obvious she doesn’t like him anyway.”

“Right.”

Peter avoids Ned’s knowing gaze, trying not to glance at MJ and Brad again. He can’t help feeling very annoyed for some reason, and he isn’t sure what set it off in the first place. Ned’s words resonate in a weird way in him. It _is_ weird that MJ hasn’t told Brad to leave her alone yet, except for the night before when she told him she’d rather stay with Peter than walk with him. It’s kind of hard for him to imagine MJ being afraid of anything, or even just intimidated by something or someone really. But she _is_ human – he’s pretty sure –, so he figures that it most probably happens still, not matter how unlikely it seems.

It _seems_ very unlikely, because it’s MJ and she’s bold and confrontational and she always says the harsh stuff no matter what, and yet there’s an uneasiness in the way she’s sitting right now that doesn’t go unnoticed to Peter. He sees the tension in her shoulders, the small crease between her eyebrows, the way she impatiently taps her foot on the ground, and he springs into action without really thinking about it.

He walks towards them, ignoring Ned behind him, and talks loudly so that Brad turns to him. “Hey Brad!” He hears him sigh right as he spins to look at him with an annoyed frown, but he doesn’t let him the time to speak. “Hey bud, sorry but Mr Harrington is looking for you.”

“Really?” Brad looks suspiciously at him, but Peter doesn’t budge.

“Yeah, he’s around there, near the playground I think,” he lies, and he’s a little ashamed at how easily the words come to him. “Apparently there’s been a problem with your room and your luggage? I didn’t quite get what it was.”

Brad gives him one last suspicious look, and then turns to MJ with one of his bright smiles that has Peter cringe. “Hey Em, sorry I have to go, we’ll continue this later?”

Peter has no idea how Brad can be dense enough not to see that none of his attempts have been welcomed by MJ so far. She stares blankly at him, then shrugs dismissively, and Peter thinks if she’d been looking at him that way he would definitely feel super bad. “Whatever,” she tells him coldly and Brad leaves, apparently none the wiser. Peter watches him go, a little satisfied with himself to be honest, but then he looks back at MJ and freezes.

Because she’s looking straight at him, and she looks pretty much exactly like she was a second ago while she was watching Brad. Like she’s deeply mad at him. And that’s clearly _not_ something Peter wants. _Oh no_.

**x**

His cheeks are more and more flushed with each second passing. There are so many things going on in his eyes MJ can almost see his brain turning at full speed in there. Good. Let him stew in it for a little while. Let him think about what he’s done. When _she_ thinks about it, she instantly knows that she’s not _that_ mad. Peter being Peter, he probably only did it not because he was jealous but because he thought she needed help getting rid of Brad or something. That would be so him. And it would perfectly fit with her theory that he is Spider-Man too. Is there such a thing as a super-hero syndrome?

It doesn’t matter though, because in any case he has to know that she doesn’t _need_ him to do that. That she can take care of herself. Because if he doesn’t get that, then she doesn’t want anything to do with him, no matter how sweet and cute the idiot is.

“You’re pissed at me,” he says very quietly after a while, and MJ doesn’t take her eyes off of him even if she kind of wants to. She’s not used to stare so fully into someone else’s eyes like this. But this is important, she thinks.

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry, I thought–” he cuts himself, scratching the back of his neck with a very nervous laugh, and MJ honestly feels for him, even though she keeps it to herself. “Never mind what I thought, that was stupid of me to assume anything I just– I’m sorry, MJ.”

“You said that already.”

“I know I’m s– I mean um, I’ll just um,” he stammers, looking down at his feet then back at her with an apologetic smile, “I’ll just stop talking now.” They stare at each other, and she’s not sure what he reads in her eyes but when he looks down and turns to leave, she feels her heart drop in her chest.

“You don’t have to save me you know,” she calls after him and he stills, with his back to her, and she kind of wishes she could see his face right now. “I can take care of myself.”

Peter slowly turns to face her, and she reads in his eyes that he was pretty sure he’d messed everything up. She fights the urge to curse him for being such an idiot. “I know, I know you can MJ I’m so–” When she raises an inquisitive eyebrow at this he chuckles and doesn’t finish his sentence. “Right.”

They stare at each other for a moment, and when she lets the corners of her mouth move up just the slightest, he barely manages to hold back his relieved sigh. She shakes her head with a smirk and he blushes a little, but then he’s smiling shyly too, his eyes shining with relief and something warm too that makes her heart melt in her chest. “Just so you know,” she adds, raising her eyebrows at him once again, “Brad is an idiot. Don’t be an idiot too, Parker.”

“I won’t,” he nods instantly and very seriously, and she pinches her lips to hide her smile. “I’ll try.”

She’s pretty sure the look she gives him at that could be translated by ‘you better’, and from Peter’s expression of mixed amusement, embarrassment and a spark of hopefulness too, he gets it. MJ breathes slowly through the pounding of her heart as they look at each other, and she wonders what he’s thinking about right now. Probably trying to figure out if she wants him to stay or not. Dork. “So, what were you doing before you so rudely interrupted me ignoring Brad’s rant?” she asks casually, flipping through the pages of her sketchpad like nothing major just happened.

Peter winces a little at that, but he still takes her words as an invitation to stay and smiles nervously. “Uh, well we went to see the museum we’re visiting tomorrow morning, there are so many cool exhibitions it’s gonna be super interesting.”

“Nerd,” she coughs lightly, and Peter laughs.

“What about you?” he asks after a moment of silence, “what are you working on?”

Looking down at her sketchpad, MJ feels her cheeks flush a little, crossing her fingers that Peter doesn’t notice. It’s not done yet. She can’t show it to him right now. She did a pretty good job she thinks, but she still has to work on her shades, and on his hair too. He has more curls now than he usually does, probably because of the humidity of the French capital. She likes it. She wants to incorporate it in there but up until now it was difficult without the actual model in sight. For the rest of the drawing she invoked her memory of that moment in Washington, and of all the times she saw him swing around on the news. She’s pretty satisfied with her work so far.

Pretty cool thing to draw Peter Parker in his Spider-Man suit minus the mask.

“Something cool,” MJ shrugs dismissively, then meets Peter’s eyes with a smirk. “Maybe I’ll show it to you when it’s done.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me tell you something: I've been writing like crazy these past few days. I cannot wait to write that moment™!! I'm writing to stay sane, and it's working, but what helps a lot too is all of you guys' wonderful comments, and the overall support this fic is getting. So really, to everyone reading this, thank you ♥ 
> 
> Also, little question: do we think this is a slow burn? Technically it's not that long, like they've been on their trip for what, 36 hours now? But as far as chapters go, we're at freaking chapter 17 and they're still dancing around each other like idiots... xD so yeah, what do you guys think? :D


	18. “A pair of handsome geniuses?”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: some fluffy clouds, Lilo & Stitch, and a stamp of approval.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like this chapter title (what's with a little self satisfaction every once in a while haha)
> 
> Update today, and next one will be on Sunday because Saturday is my son's 5th birthday :D

**Chapter 18**

**“A pair of handsome geniuses?”**

When it becomes evident that MJ doesn’t mind him staying with her, Peter finds a patch of sun on the grass and sits there, a few feet away from her. He’s deeply relieved that she still wants him to be around, despite him proving to her how much of an idiot he actually is. He’s super lucky, he thinks, glancing at her furtively to see her focused on her drawing. His heart leaps happily in his chest when she tilts her head a little, gaze fixed on her sketchpad, the tip of her tongue peaking from between her lips as she concentrates.

When she looks up from her drawing and catches him staring, Peter decides to lie down on his back and observe the clouds to resist the temptation to just look at her. He manages it for a little while, focusing on the fluffy shapes of white clouds above him, his mind wandering aimlessly. When he glances in her direction again – because he can’t help it, because he’s an idiot –, it’s to find her already looking at him, and they both look away hastily at the same time. And honestly, Peter loves it.

He’s a little surprised when he hears her put her things back in her bag and stand up, and then a little _more_ surprised when she comes to sit down next to him without a word. He peaks at her and she’s glancing in the distance, her arms wrapped around her knees. The sun is shining behind her, the rays beaming through her brown curls. Peter thinks about telling her how beautiful she looks, but he doesn’t. He’s already made a fool out of himself today, once per day is enough he thinks. “You done with your drawing?” he asks after a little while.

“I’m not showing it to you right now,” MJ huffs a little defensively, laying her legs on the ground and glancing at him with a frown.

“Oh no no,” Peter stammers, waving his hands around, “I wasn’t asking for that I–” But then she’s grinning, lying down on the grass next to him, her shoulder a couple of inches away from his, and he completely loses his mind over it, he admits it. “MJ.”

“What?” she turns to look at him with a raised eyebrow, and obviously he blushes hard.

“Nothing.” Shaking his head, Peter turns his gaze to the sky once again, trying to stay calm. It’s like he can barely breathe. She’s so close to him he can smell the fruity flagrance of her shampoo, hear each of her peaceful breaths, feel the heat of her skin where their arms are the closest. He’s paralyzed, thinking it’s been a very long time since his senses last overload. He’s known how to dampen down his enhanced senses for ages, but it’s like he can’t at all right now.

“Relax Parker.” MJ’s voice brings him back after a couple of minutes, and it’s like he’s waking up from a dream.

“I’m relaxed,” he scoffs, a little offended when she chuckles.

“Liar,” she retorts, smirking at him, and Peter decides childishly to hold her gaze to prove her wrong – despite the fact that she actually isn’t wrong at all, because honestly he doesn’t think he’s ever been this tensed in his life before. Her smirk slowly fades away as they stare at each other, their faces at the same level, and Peter thinks back to the night before, when they were in the hallway and they’d almost kissed – he thinks. The tension between them is similar now, and it’s sending shivers down his spine. He desperately wants to close the gap between them, to press his lips against hers, but he also cannot move at all. A small part of him thinks it wouldn’t be practical anyway, because he’d have to move his entire body first before being able to lean his face close enough to kiss her. Close enough to kiss _Michelle Jones_.

Oh wow.

He’s both disappointed and relieved when a familiar voice comes from above them, breaking the spell. “Hey guys!” Ned tells them happily, “Harrington says it’s time to regroup.”

Peter looks up and meets his best friend eyes upside down with a smile. He feels MJ sitting up next to him with a breathless ‘right’, and when he glances back at her, he’s surprised to catch her with a thoughtful look on her face. It only lasts a second before she’s smirking at him, and then he’s sitting up too but she teasingly pushes him back on the ground and jumps on her own feet. “Hey!” he complains, and MJ just looks down at him with a snort before grabbing her backpack and heading towards the main alley of the park ten yards from here, where Betty is waiting for them.

Peter stands up with a chuckle, his cheeks a little red when he meets Ned’s knowing look. His senses are all over the place still, and he cannot help overhearing Betty say in a quiet voice: “You guys are cute.”

And MJ to retort blankly: “Shut up.”

It was a whispered conversation, one Peter shouldn’t have heard, and yet he did. He feels a little sheepish about it, a little guilty, but then he sees MJ spin to look back at Ned and him, and her cheeks are a little red, and Peter’s heart jumps in his chest. He smiles at the ground, the world around him so full of possibilities it’s almost overwhelming. In a very, _very_ good way.

The rest of the afternoon is devoted to a tour of the park with the group, and a little trip on the rooftop of the Philharmonie, a huge theater located in the park. The view from up there is amazing over a large portion of the city, and Peter isn’t surprised to see MJ grab her sketchpad and start drawing. He likes the surge of happiness in his heart at that. He keeps his distance, sensing that she probably wants to be alone again. Brad’s been given him murderous looks all afternoon now, but he hasn’t confronted him about anything so Peter just ignores it. He doesn’t like what Brad is obviously trying to get him to do, which is compete for MJ’s affection. It’s just stupid, and definitely disrespectful to MJ too. He’s not gonna do that.

Peter walks around the rooftop on his own for a little while, considering what it would be like to swing as Spider-Man in Paris. He’s not gonna do it – that would be a pretty stupid thing to do and would most probably end up with his whole class realizing he is Spider-Man, so hard pass – but it’s fun to imagine it nonetheless. He spots the Eiffel Tower in the distance and leans into the guard-rail for a while, looking forward to the next day and the end of his plan. It’s getting closer. It should have been today, but in a way he’s kind of thankful it actually isn’t because waiting one more day gives him the impression that he is more prepared.

“What is it with you and the Eiffel Tower?”

Peter spins to catch MJ’s smirk and he chuckles. “Feeling the first effects of mind control I guess,” he shrugs, and is delighted to hear her laugh openly at that.

“Nice,” she nods, grinning at him before pointing her gaze towards the view. They’re silent for a moment, and then she sighs. “It must only affect slow minded people then, I’m not feeling anything.”

Peter snorts and shakes his head, ignoring the teasing to go with the flow instead. “Wait till we’re there tomorrow,” he assures, “it’s gonna blow your mind away.”

“Feeling incredibly drawn to large cities yet?” she retorts like she’s asking about the weather forecast, and Peter lets out a chuckle before nodding seriously.

“Yeah, I think I’m gonna go reverse the street signs once we’re done here.”

“Cool. Let me know when you start stealing everyone’s left shoe,” she adds casually, but Peter can hear her grin in her voice without even looking at her.

“Why are you guys quoting Lilo & Stitch?” Ned asks with interest, stopping on the other side of MJ with an interrogative eyebrow raise.

“Did you know the Eiffel Tower is actually built as a mind control antenna to create an army of the insane?” Peter asks back, leaning on the railing a little to look at him.

“That’s cool,” Ned says with an appreciative nod, and Peter can’t help his beaming smile at his best friend.

“Peter’s already affected,” MJ tells Ned with a sad smile, patting Peter on the shoulder like he’s on his death bed. “I didn’t think it would affect anyone from this distance, but his brain must be really weak and impressionable for it to impact him even from here.”

Ned laughs and Peter scoffs. “ _Or_ ,” he retorts, waving her hand away with a pout, “I’m actually super smart and very perceptive, and that’s why it works on me from this far.”

“Keep telling you that buddy,” MJ snorts, her eyes filled with amusement as she looks at Peter, and he feels his heart jolts in his chest. He pouts and she smirks, and they stare at each other for a moment before Ned clears his throat behind MJ.

“Yeah I’m not feeling anything either.”

“That’s because you and I are the same, Leeds,” MJ tells him.

“A pair of handsome geniuses?”

“Exactly.”

“And very modest too,” Peter adds with a mocking frown.

“Shhhh, that’s alright slow brain, don’t overthink this, let Ned and I handle the thinking,” MJ retorts with a smirk, and Peter groans while Ned bursts out laughing. She takes a step back with a self satisfied smile, then waves them off with a casual ‘see ya later losers!’ à la MJ.

Ned waits for her to be out of earshot, then he turns to meet Peter’s eyes and nods enthusiastically. “Alright, I give her my stamp of approval, you two have my blessing.”

Peter cannot help his laugh at this. “Of course, she basically told you you were a handsome genius.”

“It’s nice to be acknowledge for who you truly are,” Ned sighs thoughtfully.

“I bet,” Peter laughs, shaking his head in amusement. “But thanks dude, I appreciate it. We’re a long way from your initial plan of being bachelors in Europe.”

“This trip was the change we needed to become men, Peter.”

“Right.”

“Do you think we could do double dates afterwards?” Ned asks then, looking dreamily to the sky. “Imagine this, Star Wars marathon double date, wouldn’t that be the best?”

“I probably need to be with her first before we make more plans,” Peter chuckles, “but yeah that would totally be awesome.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D I love Ned. And Lilo & Stitch too. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this one!  
> Have a nice day! :)


	19. “I definitely intend to.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: card games, Smooth Parker, and SOMETHING

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! 
> 
> Sorry I'm a little late, I was supposed to finish and edit this chapter yesterday but I was sooooo tired last night I couldn't xD so I had to do that during the kids' nap and then I put a movie on for them, and even then I still had to stop every five minutes because apparently they cannot go without me for more than that LOL #momlife xD  
> I promise it was worth the wait though, it's a good one hehehe
> 
> Enjoy!

**Chapter 19**

**“I definitely intend to.”**

By 6:30 they start heading back to the hotel, and MJ is grateful for it because she’s exhausted. Today’s been a long day, and with the time difference she could probably have fallen asleep when she’d lie down on the grass next to Peter earlier – if it weren’t for her pounding heart and the way the idiot had been looking at her. She’d almost thought he would do it this time. Kiss her. For her part, she hadn’t been able to move one single muscle, not even to blink. He’d been so close, with his slightly pink cheeks and his brown puppy eyes, and MJ thinks if he had moved closer she would probably have met him halfway.

She honestly cannot believe how much has changed since they left New York. Back then she was pretty much in denial of how much she liked him, and now… Well, _now_. Now she’s starting to wonder how when where things are gonna… evolve. It’s exciting. And scary. She’s getting a little restless she thinks. She’s never really been one to like anticipation. But it’s also okay she thinks, because what comes _after_ , well that’s a little _more_ scary. She doesn’t know what comes after, she’s never done any of this before.

MJ follows Betty to their room, and they rock-paper-scissors to decide who gets to shower first. MJ loses, so she collapses on her bed for a minute while Betty sorts through her stuff and heads to the tiny bathroom. It’s nice to have their own, MJ thinks, remembering the shared bathroom the day before when they were in Venice. It’s insane how fast things are going – not even talking about Peter Parker. This morning they were in Venice, and the morning before that they were in New York, and now they’re in Paris for another two days, then a quick stop in London and then back home. This is definitely not some kind of relaxing trip, that’s for sure.

When she hears the shower turning on, MJ sits up and blinks her tired eyes away. If she starts dozing off, she’s not gonna be able to go down for dinner in an hour, she’s pretty sure of it. She needs to do something. She stands up from the very comfortable bed and sits down at the little desk near the window instead. Here, much less comfortable now. Without really thinking, she grabs her backpack and looks through it, her eyes falling on her copy of _A_ _R_ _oom of One’s_ _O_ _wn_. She considers it for a second, then sets it down on the side table. Nope. Too tired.

Next up is her sketchpad, and she ruffles through it for a minute, finally landing on her Spider-Parker sketch. She got inspired when they were on the rooftop of the _Philharmonie_ , and added a background to it. She thinks she’s got some progress to do in that particular department, but she’s overall happy with the thing. Now though, just imagining giving it to him makes her heart speed up in her chest, which is ridiculous. What’s even _more_ ridiculous, she realizes after a couple of seconds, is that surge of worry that he isn’t going to like it. She has to forcefully remind herself that him liking the drawing is definitely not the purpose of the whole thing. The goal is to make him admit that he is Spider-Man. That’s it. That’s the _point_.

When she hears Betty turn the shower off, MJ shakes her head and hides her sketchpad back in her bag. She fishes out her things from her messy backpack and waits for her friend to be done. Once Betty is out of the bathroom, MJ showers, and then it’s dinner time. There is a restaurant inside the hotel they’re staying at, so that’s where they eat. MJ expertly dodges Brad once again – she’s getting pretty good at it she thinks – and sits beside Ned, while Betty sits across from her next to Peter.

When the rest of their group gets there, they order their food. MJ is a little bit disappointed to see mostly pizza and pasta on the menu, and when she settles on a Pizza Primavera, Peter snickers a little, hiding like an idiot behind his menu when she narrows her eyes at him. “What?”

“Not very French of you to order pizza,” Peter jokes. The top of his ears is a little red, but he still meets her gaze head on from over the top of his menu, and MJ has a hard time trying not to smile. She likes that they’re getting better at just _talking_.

“You’re kidding right?” she scoffs, crossing her arms over her chest and raising an inquisitive eyebrow at him. “You picked a burger and fries.”

“Well they’re called _French_ fries now, aren’t they?”

“You’re an idiot.”

“Back me up Ned!” Peter retorts playfully, and MJ _chuckles_. It’s apparently as surprising to her as it is to everyone because she suddenly becomes the target of the other three’s full attention, and it’s her turn to hide behind her menu like nothing. Betty bumps her shoe with an amused smirk and MJ glares at her, but luckily Ned then changes the subject, leaving MJ to deal with the tempest of thoughts in her head. She really is way too soft for this idiot for her own good. Damn it.

The food is a little disappointing, but they still have a great time. Once they’re done eating, Ned takes out a deck of cards and for a moment they argue about what game they’re gonna play – “I’m not playing Cheat with MJ, her poker face is too good she’s gonna wreck everyone!” – before deciding on a game of President. MJ wins the first round, then Yasmin, Zoha and Flash join in and it quickly gets messier – and definitely funnier too, especially when Peter and Flash becomes beggar 1 and 2 two games in a row. Mr Harrington even plays a game with them when Flash leaves to sulk like a toddler, and they spend fifteen minutes teaching him the rules for him to become Vice-President on his first try. He’s so happy he refuses to play another one, telling them he doesn’t want to ruin the nice feeling of not messing something up for once. It’s a little embarrassing and kinda gut wrenching too when MJ thinks too much about it, but they still laugh about it.

Around 9:30 the restaurant kicks them out, so they go settle on a bench just outside the hotel, in the warm evening air. The sun hasn’t set down yet, and they watch the colors change in the sky above their heads, moving to the waterfront after a while. It’s almost like they’re back in Venice, MJ thinks as she dangles her legs from the edge of the canal, her hands spread behind her to look up the sky. Peter is sitting next to her, and she likes to feel his eyes on her every now and then while he pretends to talk with Betty sitting on her other side.

Mr Dell comes to tell them curfew is at 11, and they decide to play a few of rounds of Cheat. MJ wins the first one, and Peter does the second, and it then becomes a fun little competition between the two of them. Betty goes to bed and Flash replaces her, then it’s Ned’s turn and Josh and Tyler takes his place too. It’s 10:45 when they stop playing because it’s getting too dark, and everyone scrambles around, leaving Peter and MJ the two last ones sitting on the waterfront. MJ’s heart pounds almost painfully in her chest as she watches Zoha and Yasmin wave them goodnight. She wonders how many time she’s gonna ask herself the question ‘is this _it_?’ during this stupid trip.

They’re quiet for a little while, still sitting side by side, but MJ is stressing out a little too much to say anything or even just look at him. It’s only when she stifles a third yawn in less than 5 minutes that Peter chuckles and turns to her. She watches as he pinches his lips for a second before offering shyly to walk her back to her room since it’s almost 11 anyway. She frowns, ignoring the fact that her heart is jolting in her chest again. “I don’t need you to walk me back to my room,” she scoffs, and relishes in Peter’s instant reaction at that.

“ _Oh_ ,” he says in a choked voice, “no, no of course not I’m sorry I–” But then he sees the smirk she cannot hold back any longer, and he pouts like the cute idiot he is. “Oh my god–”

“Come on Parker,” she retorts, full-on grinning by now, “move your ass, I’m tired.”

“Every _time_ ,” he whines, shaking his head, and MJ bumps his shoulder playfully before sitting up and starting to make her way back to the hotel.

She hears him stand up as well and she waits for him to catch up to her before talking again. “You’ll get used to it.”

“I definitely intend to.”

MJ catches her breath and doesn’t reply anything, thinking to herself she’s very lucky that Smooth Parker is not his default setting. They walk inside the hotel and head to the stairs in silence. Their hands brush once as they make their way up the stairs, and MJ wonders if she’s lost her mind yet or not. Her heart is pounding faster and faster as they get closer to her and Betty’s room and she wonders restlessly what’s about to happen. Is this _it_?

They stop next to her door and she turns to look at him, smoothing the sides of her jeans with her slightly sweaty hands. She’s not sure she’s ever been this nervous before. Peter is looking very sheepish too, rubbing the back of his neck and clearly avoiding her eyes. He bites his lower lip, probably looking for something to say, and MJ’s eyes linger a little on his mouth. Her heart is beating so hard it’s pretty much all she can hear. She hesitates half a second.

Then she lunges forward and kisses him on the cheek.

She doesn’t even wait for him to react. She turns around, opens the door and slides inside her room without looking at him. “G’night Parker,” she mumbles as she closes the door. She’s pretty sure her heart is about to beat out of her chest, and her cheeks are absolutely burning. She rests her forehead against the cold door for a second, letting out a shaky breath.

“You okay?” comes Betty’s sleepy voice behind her, and she whispers that she is. The lights are off so she feels her way to the foot of her bed to grab her pajamas, then locks herself in the tiny bathroom. She drops the clothes on the floor and looks at her flushed reflection in the mirror. She’s a mess, she thinks, and her heart is still pounding painfully in her chest. Her parted lips feel especially sensitive too, and it’s no mystery why really. His skin had been soft and warm against her lips, and just thinking back makes her shiver from head to toe.

And she’s supposed to _kiss_ him on his _mouth_? When just kissing him on his stupid _cheek_ messes up with her brain _that_ much?

This is definitely not good for her sanity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah... ;D
> 
> Hope you liked it. I cannot wait to write next chapter, it's gonna be a fun one, and probably long too because I have lots of ideas and I need to fit them in there before the next two solo chapters hehehe


	20. “Alright that’s it.”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Peter freaking out a lot, Ned being Ned, and MJ freaking out slightly less than a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh something happens in this chapter that you guys have been waiting for for a while now! ;D  
> I've been procrastinating so much tonight I don't know what's going on lol
> 
> *Piglet's voice* Enjoyyyyy!

**Chapter 20**

**“Alright that’s it.”**

“Oh my God, Ned.”

“Mmh?”

Ned looks up from the desk he’s currently sitting at with his laptop as Peter closes the door behind him with a strong sense of déjà-vu from the night before. He stumbles to the bed and crashes on it, eyes turned to the ceiling and heart pounding in his chest. “Oh my God, Ned,” he repeats, his mouth extremely dry, the small spot of skin where MJ’s _lips_ pressed on his cheek earlier still very much burning up. “MJ just kissed me on the cheek.”

“Hey!” Ned reaches across his bed to bump his elbow, and Peter can hear his smile in his voice. “Dude! Nice!”

Some part of him kind of wants to rejoice, because holy cow MJ just kissed him, like _she_ did it, she kissed him, she took the first step – hopefully she’s not mad at him for not reacting, although she did not leave him time to do so in any case, wait, oh no maybe she regrets it? Maybe she–

Ned bumps him in the elbow again, sliding from his chair to his bed with a sigh. “Pete, I know this face. Stop overthinking things.”

“She kissed me,” Peter repeats in a somehow sluggish voice that gives him the impression he isn’t the one talking in the first place. “Oh God Ned, we’re probably gonna kiss tomorrow aren’t we?”

“That’s kind of your plan, isn’t it?” Ned retorts as Peter sits up and meets his gaze.

“Yeah, yeah I guess but…” He takes a deep breath, and his best friend gives him a knowing look, probably trying to encourage him to voice his thoughts. So Peter does, because that’s what Ned and him do, and that’s why they work so well at being each other’s best friend he thinks. “What if, what if, what if she doesn’t like it?”

“I’m sure she’s gonna like it.”

“How can you be so sure Ned, I’ve never kissed anyone before!” Peter exclaims, a little desperate. “What if I’m bad at it? What if she hates it and then doesn’t want to be with me anymore?” The words come flooding out of his mouth now, and even before Ned answers Peter thinks it’s already helped a little.

“I’m sure you’re gonna be great,” his best friend assures with a serious nod, and Peter bites his lower lip, still very nervous about the whole thing. Ned seems to sense it because he quietly adds: “You know, I’d offer to help you practice, but I don’t want to make things weird for Betty.”

This successfully brings a smile on Peter’s face and he nudges his best friend on the knee. “That’s sweet, thanks dude, don’t worry I get it.” Just then there’s a knock on the door, and _somehow_ it makes Peter jumps. “Oh no, what if it’s her?” he stutters, his eyes widening in a slight panic, and Ned shakes his head with a chuckle.

“What are you, scared of her now?” his best friend jokes, and Peter feels his cheeks flush. Why is he being so ridiculous?

Before he can say anything though, Flash’s voice comes from behind the door: “Can you guys keep it down? I’m live-streaming.”

“Yeah sorry sure thing Flash!” Ned calls out while Peter stifles his laugh in his pillow. They hear him mumble a little and then the sound of a closing door from a neighbor room. When Peter meets Ned’s eyes they both giggle like two idiots. It takes them a while to regain their focus, and when they do Peter lies back down on his pillow, hands behind his head.

“I’m probably gonna kiss MJ tomorrow,” he says quietly, and a little uselessly too. He’s not freaking out anymore he thinks, his apprehension being mostly gone now. Talking about it with Ned obviously helped – and laughing, too –, but he’s still worried he’s going to mess things up. He really doesn’t want to disappoint her. He still honestly cannot believe she likes him. This is just crazy. He can’t believe his luck. “Ned?”

“Yeah?”

Peter gulps a little awkwardly, before glancing at his best friend. “Did you and Betty already like, you know, _kiss_ kiss?”

Ned lets out a small sigh, lying down on his own bed. “Once yeah.”

“Oh cool.” A beat. “How um, how was it?”

“Honestly?” Ned asks, and Peter nods, his heart beating loudly in his chest. “It was amazing.”

“Ha, that’s cool,” Peter chuckles a little, laying his arms back at his sides. They stay quiet for a moment, and his brain is still surging with thoughts. “I’m sorry, I’m stressing out a little.”

“Yeah I figured that much!” Ned bursts out laughing, and Peter smiles to the ceiling once again. He’s definitely lucky to have such an amazing best friend.

**x**

When Betty’s alarm clock rings, MJ opens her eyes with the distinctive impression she’s never really closed them in the first place. The events of the night before come rushing back in her brain and she does the one and only thing she wants to do right now: hide under her covers and ignore everything. Alright, that’s probably a little dramatic of her, she admits it, but honestly she’s not feeling anything else right now. She wants to go back to sleep and to her normal life where she doesn’t stress out about kissing anyone. Oh God but she did kiss him now, didn’t she? Granted, it was just a stupid peck on the cheek. But still. She did it. Not him. She kind of wants this, doesn’t she? Why is she feeling so edgy and crappy about it then?

“Move your butt Jones,” Betty’s voice comes from above her, and she feels something poking her knee. She mumbles something that even she doesn’t get, and Betty laughs. “What’s up with you? Did something happen last night?”

“No.”

“Ooh, are you disappointed then?” her friend teases, poking her in the knee again, and MJ can hear her smirk in her voice.

“No.”

“Come on MJ, you’re usually so much more eloquent!”

“Well screw eloquence, I just want sleep.”

Betty laughs at that but doesn’t give up her quest to apparently deprive her of five more minutes of well-deserved slumber. MJ lets herself be after a while, because Betty can be pretty convincing when she wants too, especially when she starts listing all the things they’re gonna eat and drink at breakfast. They both dress up and head downstairs, where some of their group are already there. Betty leaves her side to say hi to Zoha, Yasmin and Zach, while MJ just waves at them and heads straight to the buffet, which proves to be a fatal mistake a couple of seconds later.

“Hey MJ!” Brad’s voice and smile are aggressively joyful for such an early morning. “Did you sleep okay?”

“Hmpf,” she shrugs dismissively, intently avoiding his eyes by glancing behind her to pretend to look for Betty. Another massive mistake.She meets Peter’s eyes as he enters the restaurant alongside Ned, and she feels her cheeks instantly flush despite herself. Oh _crap_. She looks back in front of her, and oh _crap_ again, Brad is still there, staring at her with a smile as blinding as the sun. Don’t look directly at it, it probably has the same properties as the Basilisk in Harry Potter, her hazy brain suggests unhelpfully.

“So I was thinking,” Brad starts off confidently, “how about we–”

And honestly, that’s it. Maybe she’s a little tired, and a little hungry, and maybe she needs some caffeine right now. But really, that’s it. She can hear Peter and Ned walking in their direction behind her, probably to grab their breakfast since MJ and Brad are standing right next to the buffet.And she thinks well screw this, that’s _it_. She’s way to busy trying to navigate around her stupid feelings for stupid Peter Parker to also have to deal with Brad I-can’t-take-a-freaking-hint Davis too.

“Alright that’s it,” she cuts Brad sharply, meeting his gaze head-on with a severe expression. “Listen here, _Brad_ , I’m gonna spell it out for you because apparently you don’t get it. I am not interested, okay?”

“What wh–”

Ignoring him, MJ turns around and sure enough Peter is standing there. She meets his brown puppy eyes, and he’s looking sheepish and almost like he doesn’t know where to stand in all this. He’s kind of hiding behind Ned at the moment, and she cannot believe she has freaking _feelings_ for this idiot. Right now though, all she knows is that she’s angry at Brad for being stupid and not seeing that she is not interested at all, and for forcing her to snap like that at 8 in the morning, because it sucks, and because she really shouldn’t have to do any of this in the first place. And Peter’s there, looking at her, and she doesn’t think much.

“Come on Parker,” she says, grabbing him by the wrist, “let’s go get something to drink.” And she walks away, ignoring Brad’s shocked expression. Peter follows her without a word as she fumes a little, pretty much pissed at everything. She can feel everyone’s eyes fixed on Peter and her, and she hates it. She stops next to the buffet with the coffee machine and juice dispenser, and after a second realizes she’s still holding Peter’s wrist so she lets go, cheeks a little flush, and looks up to meet his eyes.

He’s staring at her, the tips of his ears a little red, and she takes a deep breath to try and calm down. “I’m sorry,” she says after a couple of seconds, looking down at her feet. “I didn’t mean to grab you like that without asking, that was rude.”

“That’s alright,” he assures quietly, and damn that idiot for being so nice all the time.

“I just got pretty pissed and–” She’s not even sure why she’s explaining herself really. She doesn’t even know what she was about to say, so she’s grateful that Peter chimes in when he sees her hesitate.

“It’s fine, don’t worry. I get it.” He offers her a sweet smile, and MJ’s almost tempted to smile back. “I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?” she frowns in surprise. “It’s not your fault.”

“I know but,” he shrugs, looking down at his feet then back at her, “you know, we boys can be dumb sometimes. It doesn’t justify anything at all but yeah.”

“Yeah you _can_ be pretty dense sometimes,” MJ agrees, and suddenly she’s not even sure if she’s still talking about Brad or not. Peter seems to think the same thing because suddenly he looks a little embarrassed, rubbing at the back of his neck like he always does, and she can’t help her smirk. She’s known for a little while now that he likes her. She likes him too, and she’s pretty sure he knows that now – hopefully, because if he doesn’t then that means he really is an oblivious idiot.

And yet nothing’s really happened between them. Or at least nothing major.She hadn’t realized it before, but she might be getting a little annoyed by that lack of _things_. She kind of wants to go like, ‘ _look, I like you, you like me, are we doing this or not_ ’ or something, but she doesn’t think she’s confident enough to do that just yet. She’s honestly not sure what’s holding him back. She doesn’t want to rush him or anything, but yes, she might be getting slightly impatient, she has to admit it. She wonders if he can feel it or not.

They stare at each other for a moment, and once again she really wishes she could know what’s going on inside his head. It would make things so much easier! She thinks they should work on their communication skill or something. Maybe she could just ask him. Oh but she really _can’t_ do that, just thinking about it is making her heart flutter and her stomach do uncomfortable back flips, it really sucks. The air is tensed between them again as they stare at each other, but then Peter nods to the buffet with a tiny smile and asks: “So, do you want something to drink? Tea right?”

And somehow that’s all she needs to stop overthinking apparently. MJ smirks at that, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. “Stalker much?” she jokes, and is surprised to see Peter smirk as well.

“I’m very observant,” he retorts with a wink, and MJ doesn’t reply anything because _what_. Peter grabs two cups and fills them with water from the electric kettle while she tries to recover from the fact that Peter Parker just freaking _winked_ at her, then he nods to the basket filled with teabags. “Can you grab one for me too, please? I trust your good judgment in tea.”

“Oh you do now?” she laughs, and Peter gives her an amused and pleased look at that. “Well good for you Parker, because I’m definitely a tea expert.” It’s his turn to laugh now, and _her_ turn to look pleased because of it – although she does try to hide it, which is kind of ridiculous. She’s already established with herself that she has the most ginormous crush on that idiot, so why fight it? She’s a lost cause anyway right? So what she likes to make him laugh, screw her. Peter watches her as she picks two teabags from the basket, she can feel his gaze on her face and when she looks up she sees fondness in his brown eyes before he quickly swaps it for amusement. And yeah, he’s probably as much a lost cause as she is, she thinks.

She really wonders what he’s waiting for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D  
> I don't know, I'm not very eloquent right now, I think I need sleep too.   
> Anywoo, hope you enjoyed this chapter, I can't believe it's chapter 20 already, I'm pretty sure we're gonna have something like 25 chapters in the end (but I'm probably wrong, I suck at planning things :D)  
> Love you guys ♥


	21. "Oh my God I'm such a jerk."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: tea, Peter being an idiot, and BR4INS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dang, it took me a little while to get into this chapter, I'm not entirely sure why! I wasn't satisfied with anything I was writing, but then I don't know, something clicked :D That's always cool.  
> Enjoy guys, hope you like it!

**Chapter 21**

**“Oh my God I’m such a jerk.”**

Peter spends his entire breakfast listening to MJ rant about tea. He might take it as an excuse to stare at her more than necessary, but he figures that’s okay because he also learns a lot too. At some point Betty points out that what she’s saying is _fascinating_ , and MJ glares at her. “What?” Betty pouts, and Ned chuckles. “I’m not the only one who thinks so, right Peter?” He flushes instantly at that, diving in his eggs on toast by instinct, and he’s pretty sure some kicking happens under the table from Betty’s small yelp.

When they’re done with breakfast, they all go back to their rooms to get ready. Peter stashes very carefully the small box with the black Dahlia necklace in his backpack, making sure it’s tucked safely in his spare hoodie. The last thing he wants is to break it. While waiting for Ned to finish getting ready, he checks at least four times that the necklace is safe, testing the box to make sure it cannot open on its own, shaking his bag to make sure it’s not rolling around or anything. Ned teases him a little for it, and Peter has to admit he kind of is being a little ridiculous, but he can’t help it. “Better safe than sorry,” he tells him seriously, and Ned chuckles.

They head downstairs, and Betty and MJ are already there. Ned and Betty engage in a passionate conversation about slushies, and Peter just stands awkwardly next to MJ who’s giving him the side-eye – probably to try and throw him off, he’s kind of getting used to it, which is awesome really. He really wishes he could relax just a little to take part in that, but it’s hard. It’s like a countdown started in his head when he woke up, a countdown to that moment he’s been anxiously waiting for, for weeks now.

8 hours and 30 minutes until _that_.

The numbers are big and red and flashing in his mind with each second passing, and that’s definitely not helping him relax at all.

Once everyone is ready, they leave the hotel and head to the _Cité_ _des_ _Sciences_. They’re all pretty excited, which makes sense since they’re all from a school called Midtown _Science and Technology_ , and they did all chose to be on this _science_ trip too. Flash is live-streaming already, and Peter wonders why because most of his followers are from New York anyway, where it’s something like 3 or 4 in the morning. Zach and Sebastian are walking behind him and making faces at the camera, and when Flash stops next to Mr Harrington while they wait for the green light to cross the street, the teacher waves with a happy ‘ _hi Flash-mob_ ’, earning himself the laughs of pretty much everyone and the mortified complaints of Flash.

Peter tries to focus on his classmate’s predicament, rather than the fact that MJ is walking right beside him and that their hands are brushing every now and then. She’s not pulling her hand away like she usually does, and if Peter wasn’t as stressed as he is right now, he would wonder if she’s not doing it on purpose just a little. But he’s still freaking out completely, so that doesn’t cross his mind. He’s pretty sure he’s actually losing his mind because of it. She’s killing him already, and they haven’t even kissed yet! Not even held hands either. Oh man he’s in trouble.

They get to the museum a few minutes before it opens, and there are already people waiting in line to get in. Ned tries to get him to talk about all the things he cannot wait to see in there, like they did the day before, and Peter is pretty thankful for the distraction. Mr Harrington gives them their tickets, giving instructions that no one really listens too, then the doors open and Ned shrieks excitedly next to Peter.

His best friend’s enthusiasm gives him the distraction he needed, and for the next two hours Peter actually has a lot of fun. He still thinks he’s gonna make a fool out of himself and be the most awkward anyone’s ever been if he’s around MJ, so he tries to casually walk around and pretend like he’s too deep in thoughts to talk much. He doesn’t have to pretend that much, because the different exhibitions are _insane_.

_Earthwatch_ is amazing, and that exposition on mathematics is actually super great too – Ned and him spend a lot of time playing around with a game with tanks and water to materialize Pythagoras’ theorem. Then they head to the exhibition on Sounds, which is awesome too. It’s almost noon but Peter figures they still have time to check the ‘ _Man and Genes_ ’ exhibition. Ned tells him he’s gonna hang out with Betty for a little while – she wants to check the ‘ _Science in the news_ ’ exhibition, so they agree on meeting in half an hour in the ‘ _BR4IN_ ’ section. Mr Harrington told them lunch break would be around 1 so they still have time.

Peter can feel MJ’s eyes on him but he avoids her gaze, thinking to himself he cannot break right now. He walks around the room for a while, staying around the ‘Genetic Engineering’ part of it for a long moment because that’s just absolutely fascinating really. Then when it’s time, he heads to the exhibition on _brains_ – that ought to be amazing too – to find Ned and Betty. He realizes he hasn’t seen MJ in a while, and he instantly wonders where she is, before forcing himself to think about something else because that’s just distracting.

He’s barely made three steps inside that Ned rushes to him, looking left and right before whispering hurriedly: “Dude, you’ve gotta stop acting so weird, MJ asked me what was up with you today.”

Oh _crap_. Peter’s heart leaps in his chest for no reason. “What do you mean?”

Ned stares blankly at him, very unimpressed. “Come on, you’ve been avoiding her since we got here!”

“I'm not avoiding her,” he protests weakly, and Ned raises an inquisitive eyebrow at him that's definitely a lot MJ-like, just like his blank stare from seconds ago. “She’s rubbing off on you man,” Peter whines a little, running his hand through his hair with an embarrassed laugh.

“Maybe a little,” Ned admits with a grin, “but anyway that’s not the point! Quit overthinking things and go talk to her, Pete. You’re not gonna screw things up, she already likes you.” Peter can’t help blushing at that, and of course Ned notices. He bumps him in the shoulder with a smile. “Come on, go talk to her!”

“Alright alright, I’m going,” he makes a face and his best friend chuckles. “Thanks Ned.”

“ _Guy in the chair_!” he retorts with a deep, ridiculous bow, and it’s Peter’s turn to chuckle. Ned’s right, he needs to calm down and stop being a baby. MJ is already suspicious apparently, and that’s not good. Now that he thinks about it, behaving like he did the entire morning was actually pretty dumb. What if she thinks he doesn’t actually like her? Oh no, how can he be so stupid! He’s ignored her this entire time, never even mentioning how she kissed him the night before, or how she flipped Brad off and kind of ‘chose’ him during breakfast, he really is horrifyingly stupid isn’t he?

“Oh my god I’m such a jerk,” Peter mumbles to himself. He needs to fix this. She’s probably pissed at him for avoiding her, or probably convinced he actually doesn’t like her at all, this is a disaster. He needs to find her.

He doesn’t have to look for long. He finds her reading a panel on neurons in the next room. He takes a second to look at her and calm the pounding of his stupid heart, then walks up to her and stops at her side. He’s not entirely sure what to say, but it doesn’t matter in any case because she instantly glances at him and smirks. “Oh, so you’re talking to me again then?”

Alright, his pounding heart is back. He’s so screwed. “What? What do you mean I wasn’t… I didn’t…”

“Chill Parker,” she shakes her head in amusement. “I’m just messing with you.”

“ _Oh_.” He really should have known he thinks. But he’s an idiot today, apparently, so there’s that.

She stays quiet for a minute, eyes focused on the panel in front of them, and Peter watches as she traces the edge of the table with the side of her thumb. He wonders what she’s thinking about right now. She’s deeply focused on what she’s reading, and it shows. He likes it. He likes it a lot. The lights are dim and a little blue, and he thinks she’s never looked this beautiful before – but he’s being ridiculous again, he thinks, because he always thinks that every time he sees her, hears her, talks to her. He’s too deep into his contemplation that it takes him a couple of second to register that she’s staring back now.

There’s uncertainty in her eyes, and he doesn’t know why. Then she takes a quick breath, her gaze leaving his for a split second. “Are you… okay?” she asks a little shyly, pinching her lips in a thin line after she spoke the words, and Peter just stares in surprise.

He’s pretty sure his brain just disconnected or something. Is she actually _worrying_ about him? That’s just insane! He’s been acting like a jerk – without realizing it, but still – the entire morning and _she_ ’s worried? He wants to reassure her, he wants to tell her she doesn’t have to ask him that, he wants to apologize again and again, but he cannot seem to know how to form words anymore. His stupid brain is gone, here in the midst of an exhibition on _brains_. How ironic. He isn’t sure for how long he hesitates like an idiot, but suddenly her expression changes to the neutral, unimpressed one she offers to pretty much everyone else – one he hadn’t seen in a long time, he thinks, and it kind of breaks his heart to realize that.

“Never mind,” she tells him a little dismissively, but Peter can definitely hear the tension in her words. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to…” – she takes a sharp breath, looking anywhere but him – “I’ll just, I’ll leave you to it.” She vaguely points to the panel in front of them then starts to walk away, and she sounded so cold and uncertain that Peter feels his heart drop in his chest.

There it is. He was so scared to screw things up, and now he has.

“Wait, please.”

He hasn’t make it this far to give up just because he’s the biggest idiot there ever was. He’s gonna fix this.

MJ seems to hesitate, not turning to look at him just yet. But she’s stopped, she’s listening. He can do this. He can fix this. He bites his lip and takes an awkward step towards her. “I’m sorry, please stay, it’s… it’s always great to hang out with you.”

MJ spins around slowly, and when her eyes meet his, there’s something in them that sends Peter’s heart flying. “Really?” she says in a very quiet voice, and he cannot answer anything to that because he’s too busy drowning in her deep brown eyes. Her face is hopeful and calm and oh _so_ beautiful he almost forgets how to breathe. It only lasts a couple of seconds – although they do appear infinitely longer to him – then she looks down to her feet before nodding with a grin. “I mean, of course it is.” Peter chuckles at that, and so does MJ, and they keep staring at each other for a few seconds more.

Then they both jump out of it when Sebastian walks past them and teases loudly: “Get a room already you two!”

Peter feels his cheeks flush instantly at that and his eyes widen as the other boy runs away laughing with Tyler. He really just wants to hide his face in his hands in embarrassment right now, but he’s a little curious to see her reaction too, so he turns his gaze towards MJ, but she’s not looking at him. He still sees it though. Her cheeks are a little red as she glares at their two classmates, mumbling a grumpy ‘ _oh shut it_ ’ in the process. She then proceeds to walk away without a glance back.

But a couple of minutes later, when Peter catches her staring at him from across the room and she looks away instantly like nothing, well, she’s definitely smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm definitely going to la Cité des Sciences once all this covid-19 crap is over, it looks absolutely AMAZING. I'm learning tons of stuff writing this fic lol :D  
> Anyway, I'm pretty sure we're gonna end up with 26 chapters! I've done my little notebook summary thingy and yeah, we're pretty close now :D This is so freaking exciting :O  
> Tons of love to you guys ♥


	22. "You look like a tomato."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: a shared armrest, a submarine, and a nice view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS GUYS GUYS  
> I was too excited, I wrote like crazy today and I just really lack restraint or something because here's next chapter LOL

**Chapter 22**

**“You look like a tomato.”**

Peter’s been weird all morning, but after their little discussion in the ‘BR4IN’ exhibition, he’s a little _less_ weird. MJ’s still pretty sure he’s hiding something – something other than his spider secret identity, that is. She has it with her. The drawing. She’s thinking about giving it to him more and more now, but they’re never alone. She folded it in two this morning and slid it in her copy of _A Room of One’s Own_ that she still hasn’t finished yet. She brought at least three other books with her on this trip, thinking she’d have plenty of time to read, but nope.

Too busy dealing with one particular idiot.

She has no idea what’s up with him. She even went as far as _asking Ned_ about it, which is too say. Was that too desperate? She’s not sure. She’s a little lost, she must admit it. She thought they were making progress, but then he went and kind of avoided her the entire morning or whatever. She’s pretty sure now that it has nothing to do with her – or at least not something she does or did in the past. The stupid boy just probably has something to figure out on his own, if she had to guess.

He said it was always great to hang out with her.

She’d been ready to walk away and leave him alone for the rest of the day, and then he’d said _that_.

She still has a hard time not smiling every time she thinks about it.

What an idiot. (She’s not even sure if she’s talking about him or herself.)

He deliberately sits next to her during lunch. They don’t talk much, but she listens to him rant about Star Wars and the Planetarium with Ned, ignoring Betty’s knowing looks from across the table. Her friend ambushes her when she goes to the bathroom after lunch, but to her surprise it’s not to tease her again.

“Are you okay?” Betty asks quietly, holding the door open for her.

MJ frowns a little, hesitating as she enters the restroom. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” she says after a couple of seconds of silence, and Betty gives her a small smile.

“I don’t know, Peter’s been acting all weird I thought I would ask.”

MJ is almost tempted to quip back that she doesn’t care about Peter, but then she figures Betty knows better than this. So she just shrugs, and Betty doesn’t insist. MJ’s definitely thankful for that. She asks her about Ned while they wash their hands, and watches Betty’s eyes light up in the mirror as she talks about how much fun they have together, how sweet and respectful and kind Ned is, and MJ feels a surge of fondness for her friend. “Yeah, Ned is pretty great,” she agrees, and Betty nods with a beaming smile.

There’s only a few shows in English at the Planetarium, so Mr Harrington makes them all hurry. Peter sits next to her, and they _share an armrest_. MJ feels really stupid to internally gush about something so little and inconsequential as sharing a stupid armrest but yeah, she is. It’s bad. They watch a documentary on the sun, and it’s impressive and stunning. She tries not to think too much about the way his arm and shoulder are pressed against hers, because it’s just plain distracting. Then she thinks about what would happen if she’d suddenly decide to lace her fingers with his. The thrill she gets just at this thought is almost completely overwhelming, if she’s honest with herself.

Oh well.

After that, they walk around an exhibition on the same floor entitled ‘ _The Great Story of the Universe_ ’, and she likes Peter’s beaming and passionate smile throughout it all. Then they have fun with light games in the next room, and MJ is very tempted to kiss his stupid face at least three times there. It’s like it’s growing in her chest, overwhelming and fiery and warm, and it scares her a little – but in a good way, she thinks, because she doesn’t fight it. Well, she does fight it in the sense that she _doesn’t_ kiss his stupid face no matter how much she wants too, but she also _doesn’t_ fight it because she accepts it entirely. She wants to kiss him, she really does, and that’s okay.

But right now might not be very appropriate, she thinks.

They visit the Argonaut submarine afterwards, and at some point Peter, who’s walking behind her, lunges forward to grab her elbow and hold her back. She turns to him, frowning in surprise, and watches as his entire face grows red. “I’m sorry I thought you were about to bump your head,” he says very sheepishly, pointing to the low ceiling, and MJ turns to notice the pipe crossing the ceiling that she had not seen and would have probably hit if it weren’t for Peter’s reflexes.

“ _Oh_ , thanks,” she breathes out, and Peter lets go of her to scratch the back of his neck with an embarrassed chuckle, bumping his own elbow on the wall in the process. She smirks and he makes a face, and then Flash complains behind Peter because they’re blocking the way. MJ ducks her head and they resume their visit of the submarine. She thinks about her drawing tucked safely in her handbag. It feels like it’s weighing a hundred pounds right now, for some reason.

They head to the aquarium afterwards, and listen to Zoha passionately talk about oceanography for half an hour. They don’t have time for much more after that, so they hurry to the exhibition on Energies and walk around until Mr Harrington tells them it’s time to go back to the hotel. They have tickets to get to the top of the Eiffel Tower at 6:30, so they make a quick stop in their rooms to freshen up a little, then they’re out again. It’s already almost 5:30, they have at least 45 minutes to get there, so Mr Harrington is panicking a little.

The trains are full so once they get to the subway station they have to wait for a little while before being able to all fit in one. MJ is kind of stuck in between Betty and Peter the entire ride, but she doesn’t even think once about complaining. They change subway after ten stops, and then they get stuck for almost ten minutes because there’s apparently people on the tracks at the next station. Mr Harrington is full on panicking by then, Mr Dell pretending he doesn’t know him, and MJ notices that Peter seems a little agitated too.

She’s leaning on one of the closed doors, and Peter is standing next to her, half turned away to face his best friend. MJ vaguely hears Ned apparently trying to reassure him over the chatter of the crowded train, and she frowns, wondering what’s going on. She gets her answer a couple of minutes later, when Ned speaks a little louder. “Don’t worry dude, I’m telling you we’ll get there in time.”

“Worried you’re not gonna get your fill of mind control radiation?” MJ asks, poking him in the side, and Peter turns to look at her. She’s leaning on the doors while he is standing, so she actually has to look up to meet his eyes, which is unusual since she’s taller than him. They’re very close, and she feels her heart jump in her chest for no reason. Then she actually reads his face and raises her eyebrows in surprise. “Wait, you’re not worried,” she says, narrowing her eyes at him and standing up so they are at the same eye level. “You’re _nervous_.”

“I’m not nervous,” Peter retorts with a pout, but he’s not entirely meeting her eyes. Out of the blue, she imagines what it would feel like to lunge forward and kiss that stupid cute pout of his. Oops.

“You look like a tomato.”

“I don’t!”

He sounds so offended MJ bites her lip to stifle a snicker, and then he’s sighing, still extremely red. She considers the idea of poking his cheek for a second, but doesn't, because what the hell is wrong with her brain today really? It has her mistaken with someone who's actually comfortable touching other people and being flirty and confident and shit. That's not her. She's the snarky loner who messes with people and likes to read.

Oh but maybe that's not entirely true anymore. Or, maybe it's no longer the sole truth about her actually. Maybe now she's also the snarky not that much a loner who messes with people, likes to read and hang out with her friends every now and then, who has a crush the size of the moon on a stupid boy with a secret, and who wants to kiss him on his mouth just a little.

That's a nice summary, she thinks to herself as she stares into Peter's eyes intently. She can definitely live with that. She's not surprised when Peter is the first one to look away, but she _is_ surprised to meet Ned's knowing and smiling face a few seconds later. She pinches her lips and averts her eyes, a little embarrassed without really knowing why.

Finally they make it to the right station, and MJ relishes in breathing the kind of polluted air of the city instead of the damp, suffocating one of the subway. Mr Harrington hurries them to the Eiffel Tower and they barely have time to take in the scenery before they're rushed into security, then a line, a first lift, then a second one, and then they're there. And it's stunning.

It's not as crowded as she thought it would be. She leans into the railing and watches as the French capital stretches as far as the eye can see. She feels Peter stop next to her, and her heart jumps in her chest. She glances at him, and somehow he's very pale, paler than she's ever seen him. If she didn’t know better she’d wonder if he’s afraid of heights of something.

“Feeling brainwashed yet?” she asks with a smirk, and he actually chuckles at that.

“I don’t see a difference,” he grins, “but that’s kinda the thing though, isn’t it? We're not supposed to feel it right?”

“Yeah probably,” she admits, and they smile at each other for a second before both looking away at the same time. MJ is very aware of everything at that moment. The wind in her hair, the people walking around her, talking excitedly about the view and taking pictures, the sounds of the city at their feet, the sun in the sky playing hide and seek behind the white clouds. The warmth she’s probably imagining emanating from Peter next to her, a warmth she doesn’t think she could possibly feel because he’s standing too far from her, and yet it’s like it’s engulfing her, cozy and soothing, and she kind of wants to stay like this forever.

They stand in a comfortable silence for a little while, and when she opens her mouth to say something, he does so at the same time.

“This is really–”

“MJ can I–”

She pinches her lips in amusement and nods to him. “You first.”

He chuckles nervously, rubbing the back of his neck, and a stupid surge of affection for him washes over her like a wave. He stammers a little, then shakes his head and takes a deep breath. She can feel her heart pounding in her chest, and she wonders if it’s the same for him. It’s like her body knows before she even does. “MJ I um, can I... can I talk to you? I mean, alone?”

She thought she had spent enough time imagining this moment to not be surprised if/when it comes around, or at least to know how to react. Obviously that's not the case at all. She cannot even begin to form one single coherent thought that isn't along the line of ‘ _oh my god oh my god oh my god’_. She’s pretty sure her heart's gone into cardiac arrest, and she has to subtly grip the railing to keep herself grounded because it almost feels like she's falling.

She's not though. She's standing at the top of the Eiffel Tower with Peter Parker who's asking her if he can talk to her alone. That's alright. She's alright. She's not falling at all. _That_ 's not falling at all.

That's _living_.

She can do this. It might be a little scary, but it's also what she _wants_.

Hopefully Peter doesn't realize how all over the place she feels right now. Everything is fine, she's just casually talking with him. She can do this.

“Sure,” she shrugs, and she’s very impressed with herself for how normal she sounds. She doesn't feel normal at all. Actually, she doesn't think she's ever been that freaked out in her entire life before. Half of her wants to run away, far far away actually, but no, she's too much of a goner for that, she's even quoting Star Wars in her own head, so that's a lot to say. There's no way back from _that_.

Peter Parker made his way into her life at the start of this trip  when he asked her if she wanted to sit next to him on the plane , and now she cannot – and doesn't want to in any case – get back to her life before that. 

And that's  definitely okay. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG OMG OMG 
> 
> Do you now get why I was so excited? It's barely 9 pm here, I'm not promising anything because life, but I really really really [...] really want to write more so yeah, keep an eye out tomorrow as well for the NEXT FREAKING CHAPTER OMG
> 
> I'm sorry I may sound a little crazy but I don't care, it took me 22 chapters to get to this particular moment, I deserve this, and you guys deserve it too!!! :D


	23. 'This is it.'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: THIS CHAPTER OKAY I THINK EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT THIS CHAPTER IS, RIIIIIIIGHT?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, guys, I'm gonna be honest with you here.   
> I POURED my very own soul in this chapter. Every single emotion these guys feel in this, I felt it while I was writing. Honestly, I'm exhausted right now LOL  
> Totally worth it!!

**Chapter 23**

**‘This is it.’**

MJ says sure with a casual shrug, and then Peter’s mind kind of goes blank for a while. It feels like he’s been floating in the air since they got on that first lift to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Ned bumped him in the shoulder when they got out of the second one, and wished him good luck in a whisper. And now he’s here. Here, at the top of the Eiffel Tower, with MJ, and she’s just agreed to talk with him. Alone. Oh God he really hopes she kind of suspects where this is going because he’s freaking out so much he’s pretty sure he’s not gonna make any sense at all.

No, no that’s not what’s gonna happen. He’s gonna do this, and do this right. He’s been waiting for this moment in particular for weeks, when he’s pretty sure things could have happened sooner if he hadn’t been so set on following his plan. So he’s gonna make it worth the wait. Yes. He can do this.

“Okay, cool,” he smiles, and his mouth is very dry, but he ignores it. Everyone from their group is just a few feet away, so Peter points to the stairs behind them, and MJ nods without a word. He’s thankful that she understood what he meant without him having to actually speak the words. He really wants to do this right, but his nerves are still acting out, sadly. Deep breaths. He’s got this.

They walk down the few steps to the covered area with windows overlooking the city. They find a quiet spot over the Seine and stand there admiring the view for a minute. Peter takes this as an opportunity to try and calm down his pounding heart, but it’s apparently a lost cause. He’s been on the verge of a senses overload ever since they got on the tower, he thinks, but actually being here instead of upstairs, with the wind and the sounds coming up from the city just a distant rumor now, well it feels a little better.

MJ is looking in the distance, and Peter’s heart aches a little at all the feelings flooding him at this sight. He cannot believe he’s about to tell her. This could easily become one of the best days of his life, _if_ he doesn’t screw things up. _Come on, you can do this_.

“So um,” he clears his throat a little awkwardly as she turns to meet his eyes, and he instantly forgets what he was about to say. _Focus_. The necklace first, and then the rest. He’s got this. “MJ there’s uh, there’s this thing that I wanted to give you.”

“Oh,” she raises her eyebrows in surprise, then looks down at her feet for a second before looking up again. “Okay. Well I uh, I have something for you too actually.” She pinches her lips then gives him a small, shy smile, and Peter thinks his brain is officially gone now.

“Oh, cool.”

“But um, you go first,” she adds, and she sounds a little nervous too now, so Peter’s heart effectively jumps in his chest. She probably knows where this is going. She doesn’t know about the necklace – he made Ned promise he wouldn’t tell Betty, and he’s pretty sure he kept his promise – but he’s so obvious all the time he’s sure she knows that he likes her. So if she’s here with him right now, and above all things she’s a little nervous too, well then it can only mean one thing.

Oh God he’s getting ahead of himself, he needs to focus. First the necklace. And then… well, _then_.

“Right, okay sure,” he says, and hates himself instantly because his voice is all squeaky and ridiculous now. “So I had this plan that I wanted to give you,” he begins, but then realizes what he’s saying doesn’t make any sense so he swings his backpack in front of him and grabs the small box inside. “I’m just, I’m just gonna give it to you,” he stammers a little, gulping, then hands her the box. “Here.”

She takes it without a word, and their fingers brush in the process, sending shivers up Peter’s arms. He’s done it. He gave it to her. Now it’s in her hands. Maybe he should talk. Explain. Tell her everything. Her expression is so quiet and thoughtful though. He watches as she narrows her eyes to examine the small box with interest, and something goes loose in his heart. It crashes through him like a tidal wave, and it leaves him speechless.

There’s the slightest hint of a smile on her lips, and Peter forgets how to breathe. She carefully opens the round box, and he wonders what’s going through her mind right now. He doesn’t feel the need to fill the silence with words anymore. MJ is doing just that with each tiny change in her expression, with each careful movement she makes as she examines the gift in her hands. He’s just an onlooker, a witness to her thoughtful study, and he’s really happy he gets to do so from a front row seat.

MJ gently raises the necklace out of the box, which she slides in the pocket of her sweatshirt. Peter holds his breath as she brushes the fragile petals of the glass flower with the tip of her finger, cradling it in her palm with so much care and softness his own heart seems to melt in his chest. Her eyes then move from the necklace to him, and he’s instantly overwhelmed by the warmth in them. Then she smiles, quietly, shyly, fondly.

“Peter that’s…” she takes a slightly shaky breath and looks back at the necklace like she doesn’t know what to say, and he panics for a split second. But then she moves her hair to the side, unclips the necklace and puts it on, and Peter doesn’t think he’s ever felt such an intense thrill before. And one of his pastime is literally swinging between buildings and fighting crime, so he’s known his fair share of thrills before, but _this_ , this is something else entirely. She likes it. She _likes_ it.

“Thank you,” she says simply, and Peter knows he’s probably beaming at her right now. She seems to like it, because she smiles too, and it reaches her eyes, and his heart skips a beat once again.

“You’re welcome,” he tells her, and he’s surprised he remembers how to speak still.

“Black Dahlia, like…”

“The murder yeah,” Peter nods, and she bites her lower lip like she doesn’t want to smile too much, but her eyes are still sparkling and he’s honestly never seen such a beautiful thing in his life. “You look really pretty,” he says very quietly.

“Therefor I have value?” she retorts, raising an inquisitive eyebrow at that, and for a half a second Peter actually panics. Then he sees the mischievous glint in her eyes and he pretends to sigh deeply, and then she’s grinning and it sends his heart pounding because _wow_. “Ha, you’re getting better at this,” she tells him with an appreciative smirk, and he bows his head.

“Told you I was gonna,” he beams, intentionally taking a _very_ self-satisfied expression that has her snort instantly.

“Yeah yeah, don’t get too full of yourself, I’m not done with you,” she retorts, waving her finger in his face, and he laughs. He likes the pleased look she gives him at that. It sends his heart flying in his chest again.

“So you’re not done with me?” he asks after a few seconds of staring at each other in silence, hoping he sounds casual and not too hopeful or worse, desperate. She smirks and shakes her head at this, but then he watches as she quickly glances at his lips then back at his eyes, and an excited shiver runs up his spine. “That’s cool,” he nods a little breathlessly, and she chuckles. Her eyes are filled with amusement and what definitely looks like fondness, and Peter honestly cannot believe his luck. This is going great.

One more step. Telling her how he feels. He thinks back to the day he exposed his plan to Ned in the art classroom, back home. It seems so long ago, and it was only five days ago. This is the turning point, he thinks. If he’s read the signs correctly, and he’s pretty sure he has, then MJ feels the same. This is elating. Insane. Amazing. He cannot believe his luck.

One more step, and then he might get the chance to kiss her. Or he could do it right now. They’ve been dancing around each other for a little while now. Maybe he should kiss her. Ask her first, obviously. ‘ _MJ, can I kiss you?_ ’ The words are easy, he just needs to form them on his tongue and lips, and say them.

**x**

“Alright, my turn now.”

“Right, yes,” Peter agrees with an awkward nod, and MJ bites down her smile. She wonders if he was just thinking about kissing her. He looked very serious and intense really, and wow she’d almost forgotten about that other _thing_. The chain of the black Dahlia necklace is cold against her skin. She cannot believe he got this for her. She loves it. She doesn’t wear much jewelry, except for her earrings, but _this_. She couldn’t find the words earlier to describe the unraveling of her mind at the sight of this gift. He got this, for her. He bought it, probably in Venice if she had to guess, and waited for them to be here, at the top of the Eiffel Tower, to give it to her. She cannot even begin to say how grateful she is for this – for him.

_Is this a mistake?_ The question flashes in her mind incessantly as she reaches for the drawing in her handbag. She could pretend she just wanted him to have her copy of _A Room Of One’s Own_ because it’s a good read. Discreetly slip the drawing out of it and give him the book, and then maybe they could kiss a little – yes, the thought of kissing him here of all places has been ogling her mind ever since he gave her the necklace, screw her she thinks that’s perfectly rational. Maybe that would be for the best. After all she has no idea how he’s gonna react. It’s quite stressful, honestly.

But then again, she _wants_ to do this. She wants to know the truth, she wants him to know that she knows. And if she doesn’t do it now, then she’s pretty sure she’s gonna chicken out of it entirely. And then what? They get together but he keeps hiding it all, and she keeps pretending she has no idea? She doesn’t want that. She doesn’t want him to lie, and she doesn’t want to lie to him either. Right now is the best moment to do this. She _has_ to do this. Hopefully she doesn’t screw everything up in the process.

Her hands are shaking a little as she grabs the book and flips the pages to get the drawing. She can feel Peter’s eyes on her, and her pounding heart is so loud she doesn’t even hear the crowd of excited tourists above them. This is it. She’s so nervous she wonders if she’s not about to break into tears or something. That would be ridiculous. This is okay, this is _important_. She has to do this, she doesn’t see herself not doing this anyway. It’s gonna be okay.

She takes the drawing in her shaky fingers, leaving it folded in two, and hands it to Peter without a word. This is it. It’s in his hands now. He thanks her with a sweet smile, but she cannot bring herself to give one back. She briefly considers the idea of running away and hide forever. No. She can’t do that. She cannot chicken out of it now, she has to know. She slides her trembling hands in the pocket of her sweatshirt, her fingers closing around the little metal box he gave her.

_This is it._

MJ watches with a pounding heart as Peter unfolds the drawing. She studies how his whole body instantly stills, colors slowly draining from his face as he takes in what it's representing. She watches as his lower lip trembles a little. He scans the sheet with his eyes, and they grow more and more panicked with each seconds passing. MJ feels her heart falling in her chest. Oh no.

“Peter it’s okay I–” She catches her breath as he looks up to meet her eyes. She’s never seen him look so restless, so tensed, almost like he’s _scared_. This was a mistake. “I, I swear I haven’t told anyone,” she stammers, mouth very dry, and he lets out a very nervous sigh at this.

He reaches to rub the back of his neck, eyes flying to the drawing in his hand, and his expression changes. He’s past his initial shock, and now she reads on his face that he’s looking for a way out. An excuse. She can almost see the gears turning like crazy behind his brown eyes. She can feel it even before the words start pouring out of his mouth in a tangled mess of stuttering. “What is, wh– why, I mean, ha, it’s not, I’m not–”

And it hurts. She thinks her heart breaks a little, which is a stupid way to think of it because obviously her heart is fine and this is just a dumb metaphor or whatever. But it still hurts, no matter how hard she wants to deflect the pain and disappointment and hide behind the walls she spent years building and crumbled so easily in a matter of days just because of _him_. _Thanks_ to him.

She takes a step forward, forcing him to look up and meet her eyes. She’s not gonna do run. She deserves the truth. They’re standing inches apart now, the top of the drawing brushing against her chest. “Don’t lie, please.”

Hurt flashes in his brown eyes, then so many other things she loses track of them all. She’s pretty sure she saw a spark of shame, some fear too. Then something else settles in his pupils, and it blows her mind away. Compliance. He doesn’t say the words, but somehow she knows. She’s right. Peter Parker is Spider-Man. They stare at each other for a moment, and MJ has no idea what to say. They’re breathing the same air and she _knows_. This is huge.

“How?” His voice is very low, hesitant and almost hoarse. This is huge for him too. She wonders who else knows. Ned does, she’s sure of that part, his aunt too, probably. Tony Stark. Probably all the Avengers-related people. This is insane. She was right this whole time.

“I’m very observant,” she says with a casual shrug, hoping to diffuse the tension around them. It doesn’t work at all. Peter looks down to the drawing again, and he looks sad and hurt, and she only understands why with his next few words.

“So you were only watching me because you thought that–”

“Peter,” she cuts him, barely holding back a deep sigh – how can he be so smart and yet so _stupid_ at the same time? “Come on. If you really think that, then I’m sorry but you’re dumb.” This makes him chuckles very nervously, and he reaches to scratch the back of his neck again. He’s not meeting her eyes anymore, and her heart clenches in her chest. Is this over? Did she really screw everything up?

“Peter I…” MJ takes a deep breath, shivering when he finally looks up to lock his gaze in hers. “It’s never easy for me to… get close to people,” she admits in a whisper, “but with you… with you it is.” His eyes are so intense she kind of wishes she could look away. She doesn’t. “And I promise it really has nothing to do with you being, well, _Spider-Man_ ,” she adds quietly, because it seems important to mention right now. His face is so still she has no idea what he’s thinking, or if he’s even believing her. Self-doubt pours in her brain and she stammers her next words a little: “which you are, right?”

She watches in awe as Peter’s face breaks into an amused smile, and her heart leaps in her chest at this sight. “You sounded so sure earlier,” he points out, and his tone is light, albeit still a little careful.

“Ah well, only like, 67% sure,” she retorts with a small chuckle, and she wonders if he can hear the breathless relief in her voice. His eyes are sweet and fond now, roaming her face like he’s looking for something, and she really hopes he finds it.

“I am,” he nods very quietly, and she catches her breath, heart pounding. “I am Spider-Man.”

There’s a slight hint of embarrassment and uncertainty on his face as he waits for her to say something, and MJ can’t help her smirk. “Well, nobody’s perfect,” she sighs, shrugging a little, and she’s delighted to hear him laugh openly at that.

They stare at each other with amused smiles, and then she watches as he not so subtly glances down at her lips before meeting her eyes again. “I really like you,” he says quietly, and a flock of butterflies bursts in her stomach at this.

This is it. “I really like you too,” she smiles softly, and relishes in how his eyes light up instantly. What a cute dork. She cannot believe she has feelings for this guy. She cannot believe how long she stayed in denial of those feelings. They make so much sense, she thinks. Peter stares at her, and she stares back at him, very curious to see if he’s gonna take the next step now or not. She’s pretty sure he’s about to – and that’s _very_ exciting, she thinks. Her mouth is very dry. She wants to wet her lips just a little, but she doesn’t want to be too obvious either. Oh wow she’s stressing out.

“So guys, we have to – _oh_.”

Both Peter and MJ startle and turn to face a fidgety Mr Harrington staring at them in surprise. He raises his eyebrows very high, and then shrugs. “Well _finally_ ,” he sighs nonchalantly, then turns around and leaves just like that.

MJ’s brain is void of thoughts, and when she glances back at Peter she sees he seems as shocked as she feels. They both let out very nervous chuckles, then stay quiet for a minute. MJ watches as Peter carefully folds her drawing in two and slides it in his pocket, and then he looks up to her and there’s a question in his eyes. “MJ can I–”

“Kiss me?” she supplies helpfully, and she’s pretty sure they both blush at the same time.

“Yeah?” Peter nods, and his eyes are hopeful and excited, and she wants to get lost in them.

“Yeah.”

His smile is wide and her heart stutters. To hell with it, she wets her lips, her heart pounding in her chest, and watches as his gaze widens a little because of it. She wants to tease him, but she doesn’t. She waits as he slowly moves closer, and closes her eyes when he presses his lips against hers. It’s like an explosion in her chest and in her brain. It’s quick and chaste, and then he’s moving back, probably trying to see if this is okay or not. She doesn’t let him ponder more than a second and lunges forward to press her lips against his again. They’re soft and sweet and warm and wow. It’s over too quickly again, and when she opens her eyes she sees in his that he seems to think the same thing.

Their mouths meet each other halfway a couple of seconds later, and this time their lips dance together, and it’s _amazing_.

_This is it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it.
> 
> (I wanna play it cool but that's against my very own nature, so please scream with me in the comments omg aaaaaaaaah)


	24. "So, that was... nice."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: smooching faces, Peter being quite distracted, and Ned doing Ned things (we <3 Ned.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no we're so close to the end :O   
> Here's some fluff. The world needs some fluff right now I think...

**Chapter 24**

**“So, that was… nice.”**

MJ’s lips are soft and amazing against his, and Peter is acting on pure instinct. One of his hand goes to her waist, while the other moves up to cup her cheek, and from his overly sensitive fingertips he even feels the quickening of her pulse induced by his gesture. He’s never felt more alive than this very instant. MJ’s left hand moves to the back of his neck, while her right hand now rests on his chest. He wonders if she can feel his pounding heart. Her fingers grasp at his hair like she wants to pull him closer, and Peter definitely gets that. He wants to be closer to her too, impossibly closer. He’s burning with so much life, so much energy, it’s like nothing he’s ever felt before.

They eventually have to stop kissing to gasp for air – well, Peter would have been able to hold longer, but eh, he’s not complaining. He opens his eyes to meet MJ’s, and his heart jumps in his chest. He lets his hand slide from her cheek alongside the curve of her neck, then her shoulder, and relishes in the way she slightly shivers under his touch. Her eyes are bright, her cheeks flushed, and it takes his breath away. She lets both her arms fall back at her sides and takes a shaky inspiration, closing her eyes for a second.

“So, that was… nice,” she breathes out, pinching her lips in a thin line, and Peter chuckles. He watches in delight as her cheeks flush even more, and suddenly it strikes him: she’s flustered. From kissing him. He did that. Since when has his life become that amazing?

“Just nice?” he half-pouts, half-teases. “I mean, it kind of looks like you–”

“Oh shut up,” MJ cuts him, rolling her eyes. Then she does something he did not expect at all: she kisses him again. It’s kind of a sloppy one, this time. Her lips are slightly parted, and his bottom lip gets trapped in between them, and for some reason it instantly turns his brain into jelly. He vaguely thinks to himself this is the best way he’s ever been told to shut up, then she moves away and he opens his eyes to meet her self-satisfied ones.

He feels his cheeks flush under her gaze, and really he shouldn’t be surprised at how quickly she turned the tables on him, he thinks. Now he’s the flustered one. Oh well. He rubs the back of his neck with a breathless chuckle. “Um, so yeah, feel free to do that whenever you want,” he tells her with a sheepish smile, and MJ actually looks bemused for a second. Peter watches in awe as her lips form a surprised o, like she didn’t expect him to say something like that at all, and his heart jumps in his chest.

She recovers fairly quickly and smirks at him. “What? Tell you to shut up?” she retorts, raising an eyebrow at him.

“I mean, coupled with, with _that_ ,” – he gestures to her lips then his, thinking to himself why on earth can’t he just say _kiss_ , what is he, an 8 year-old? – “I mean, yeah it’s, yeah. Plus it’s fairly effective.”

MJ chuckles lightly, poking him playfully in the side, and Peter wonders if he’s ever been this happy before or not. He’s pretty sure he hasn’t. “Alright, I’ll keep that in mind,” she tells him with a smirk, that quickly morphs into a beautiful grin as they stare at each other. Peter mouths a ‘cool’ and she chuckles again, and it’s like his heart is pretty much melting by then.

“Um, guys?”

They turn to see Ned who’s staring at them with a small smile. Peter forces himself not to smile to widely at him, but it’s not that easy. “Sorry we uh, Harrington says we have to go.”

“Oh, okay.”

MJ takes a step back, and Peter feels a little cheesy because of it but he instantly misses her proximity. He glances at her, studying her as she still looks at Ned, then his eyes wander down to the black Dahlia necklace around her neck and he smiles. He still cannot believe she likes it. She’s wearing it, and it’s honestly amazing.

Now he’s thinking about what she gave _him_ though. He’s still in shock. She was so nervous. Her hands were trembling, he could hear the flutter of her heart above the rumbling of his panicked thoughts when she’d handed him the drawing. It’s really good. The drawing. Peter already knew MJ was talented, but he hadn’t known just how much, he thinks. It was honestly like a punch in the gut, seeing it, realizing what it was, what it _meant_.

When he thinks about it now, maybe it actually makes a lot of sense, maybe he should have seen this coming. Yeah, he really should have seen it coming. Oh God, he really is bad at this whole secret identity thing, isn’t he? They kind of went off track when MJ basically confessed that she likes him – he’s definitely not complaining – but he thinks he has a few questions to ask her, next time they’re alone. Oh wow, next time they’re alone maybe there will be more kissing.

Alright, maybe more kissing, but first questions about how she figured it all out. If people left and right start figuring out that he’s Spider-Man, he’s done. Not that MJ is _people_ , nope, not at all. She’s one of the smartest, most perceptive person he’s ever met. It makes sense that she figured it out, especially since she’s _interested_ in him – oh wow that’s so awesome. He wonders if she did like a background check on him or something. That would make sense too. Maybe she can help him get better at that part of the superhero thingy. Oh, that’d be amazing. Another member for Team Spidey, Ned is gonna be thrilled. Wow, he needs to tell Ned. So many things to do, when really all his brain seems to be able to focus on right now is how amazing it was to kiss MJ.

“Yeah we lost him.”

Peter blinks his thoughts away and realizes he might have been staring into the void for a while. Oops. MJ smirks at him, and his heart rate picks up. Ned is standing next to her with a worried frown, and Peter makes a face. “Sorry, I was –”

“Reminiscing already, dork?” MJ teases, and his stupid cheeks flush at that. She pokes him in the side, her eyes filled with amusement, and he pouts. She chuckles, shaking her head with a fond expression. “Cute.” And then just like that she’s walking away without a look back, towards the other side where the elevators are. Peter watches her leave, and he cannot help his goofy smile at that. His life really took a very nice turn all of a sudden. That’s nice.

“Yikes.”

Peter turns to his best friend and grins. “Yeah.”

“Damn, I would never have thought you guys would be so… yikes.” Ned shakes his head with feign disgust, but his eyes are smiling and Peter knows he’s also deeply happy for him. It’s nice. Ned’s awesome. He nudges him in the ribs with a smirk, and his best friend rolls his eyes playfully. They follow MJ toward the elevators, and Peter realizes that maybe right now is the best moment to actually tell Ned about the whole Spider-Man thing with MJ. He doesn’t want to wait to be back in their room at the hotel.

“So um, MJ knows,” he tells him in a whisper, looking around to make sure no one is paying them attention. The rest of their group is standing in front of the elevators, chatting excitedly. MJ is talking with Betty, who seems pretty excited about something, while MJ looks like she’s trying to hold back her smile. His heart jumps happily in his chest at this sight. Damn, he’s so head over heels for her, it’s actually crazy.

“That you like her?” Ned deadpans, and Peter turns his attention back to his best friend, “yeah I figured that much from seeing you two smooching faces.”

_Damn it,_ _I said_ _n_ _o more thinking about kisses!_ _C_ _ome on,_ _focus_. “No Ned I mean, she knows that I’m, you know” – he lowers his voice even more – “Spider-Man.”

“You told her?!”

So much for being discreet. Maybe that’s how MJ figured it all out. Ned and himself being stupid idiots and talking about it at school. Oh god that’s very likely now that he thinks about it. “Ned!!” he whisper-shouts, and Ned has the decency to look contrite.

“Oops.”

“He didn’t tell me, I figured it out.”

Peter looks up, and sure enough MJ is looking at them with a smirk now, leaning on the wall besides the first elevator. Betty glances at her curiously, then at Peter and Ned, and asks, the curiosity very obvious in her voice: “What did you figure out?”

“That um,” MJ hesitates, her unsure eyes meeting his, and Peter rushes to her rescue without thinking:

“That I like her.” He blushes a little at his own words, but from MJ’s small relieved smile, he thinks it’s worth it. Ned and him stop next to the two girls, and Peter tries to ignore the fact that half their class stopped talking to listen, including Mr Dell and Mr Harrington. Brad is frowning deeply, arms crossed over his chest, intently ignoring them but Peter knows he’s listening as well. Oh well, better this than them figuring out that he’s Spider-Man, right?

“Oh Peter sweetie,” Betty smiles fondly, and he feels his cheeks flush even more, “everyone knows that.”

“Yeah Parker you suck at keeping secrets,” Flash perks in, and of course he’s still live-streaming. It’s okay, the camera is never _not_ facing Flash’s face, he’s too fond of himself for that, but Peter still groans unhappily though.

“Yeah whatever.”

He’s saved by the ding of the elevator, and by Mr Harrington who rushes them in as soon as the new group of tourists gets out. Peter looks around one last time, committing the place to memory, then walks inside the elevator behind MJ. They stand next to each other in the back, and Peter almost jumps when he feels her link her fingers with his. She’s not looking at him but at the view as the elevator slowly goes down, and she’s obviously biting down her smile and he gets a little distracted again. Oops. Is this what it’s gonna be like all the time now? Oh but who is he kidding really, he was already getting distracted by her lips even before kissing her became a wonderful possibility. That’s so nice.

The next couple of hours are spent walking around the Eiffel tower and the _Champs de Mars_ , the large park at the tower’s feet. The weather is warm, and it actually feels like a real vacation all of a sudden. But maybe that’s just because Peter isn’t as stressed out as he was before. Don’t get him wrong, he’s still over analyzing everything that MJ does – like how she doesn’t hold his hand much but sometimes brushes her fingers on the back of his hand while they walk, or how when their gazes meet she still looks away a little hastily, but now with a small happy smile that turns Peter’s brain into jelly every time it happens.

They hang out with Ned and Betty, and Ned excitedly mouths ‘ _double date_ ’ to Peter at least six times. He hears Zoha tell MJ that she thinks Peter and her are cute together, and he tries not to smile too much when he sees her cheeks flush a little at that. They eat in a small restaurant, some delicious French cuisine – Peter feels very fancy when he says that, and it makes MJ snorts. They’re sitting next to each other, very close, and at some point their knees bump, and she doesn’t move hers away. And it’s awesome. It’s a little difficult to focus on the discussion though, as Peter cannot seem to think about anything else but kissing her again.

They head back to the hotel at around 9:30, and everyone is tired. It’s late though so luckily the subway is a little less crowded than it was before. MJ still chooses to stand, and Peter stands next to her without a question. He thinks his heart is about to fly out of his chest when she leans her shoulder against his shoulder a little. She’s not looking at him, pretending like nothing major is going on right now, just like she did in the elevator when she held his hand, but Peter knows she’s as much excited as he is about it. He can hear the sharpness of her inspirations every now and then, and he can see the happy glimmer in her eyes in the reflection on the window.

And honestly, everything is amazing, he thinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I just say, you guys' comments for last chapter were absolutely perfect-amazing-extraordinary, so thank you one million times for that honestly ♥
> 
> I hope you guys are all safe, sending all my love to everyone who needs it in these tough times... I see you all and I love you ♥


	25. “Is it my turn?”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: two dorks, some questions and one rooftop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!  
> I'm so sad we're almost at the end!   
> Hope you like this chapter!!   
> ♥

**Chapter 25**

**“Is it my turn?”**

They get back at the hotel and it’s already almost half past 10, so pretty much everyone is exhausted. It’s been a fairly long day, to be honest. MJ is pretty tired too, and yet she’s not really sure what she wants to do – that’s not true, she knows exactly what she wants to do but it’s easier to pretend like she doesn’t. Mr Harrington doesn’t say much about a curfew or anything before he heads inside, and Mr Dell disappeared as soon as they arrived so there’s that. She’s trying not to glance too obviously at Peter who’s standing next to her with his hands in his pockets. Everyone is saying goodnight to each other now, but he’s not really moving or showing any sign that he wants to go to bed or anything, so yeah, all MJ can think is ‘now what?’.

She watches as Ned and Betty say goodnight to each other by pressing each other’s nose and other weird things. She’s pretty sure she can feel Peter’s eyes studying her, but she does not look his way. She’s stressing out again. The last few hours have been pretty great and easy, because they were hanging out with Ned and Betty and how to act around Peter came pretty naturally, like nothing much had changed. There were little clues here and there that proved that something did change between them since _that_ , like how his gaze kept drifting to her lips very not subtly at all whenever she was talking – he’s such a _dork_ , honestly.

She can’t really blame him though. She’s been thinking about kissing him again too. Pretty much ever since they stepped out of the Eiffel Tower. Oh well. She’s just a lot better at hiding it though, she thinks. How this guy managed to keep his Spider-Man identity secret all this time is kind of beyond her. People are just really stupid and oblivious, because it is kind of obvious to anyone paying the slightest attention to that cute dork.

But maybe that’s just her.

“MJ, you coming?”

She raises her eyebrows at Betty’s question, her heart leaping a little in her chest for some reason. “Um, I uh…” she hesitates, glancing at Peter, and oh crap he’s looking at her and now their eyes are locked and it kind of takes her breath away. “Actually I –”

“Right,” Betty cuts her, and MJ can guess her smirk even before she looks back at her. Her friend wiggles her eyebrows at her and it’s absolutely ridiculous.

“Ah, _young love_ , that’s so sweet,” Ned comments dreamily, and MJ scoffs because honestly what’s wrong with these two, they’ve been a couple for what, three days? _Ugh_. She doesn’t get to share her mind with them though because they head inside, chuckling like two lovely idiots, and she turns to Peter with a frown.

His cheeks are a little red, probably from Ned’s comment if she had to guess, but he still smiles to her as soon as their eyes meet, and yes, alright, her heart does a little back flip in her chest just because of it. They stare at each other in silence for a moment, and then Peter reaches to smooth his hair. “So um, do you wanna –”

“Yeah.”

He chuckles at her interruption, biting his lower lip, and really MJ thinks that’s just rude. “I thought maybe we could, I don’t know, go up to the roof or something?” he suggests, and from his body language it’s clear that he’s nervous, and yet his puppy eyes are hopeful and so sweet MJ can only grin at that.

“Okay,” she just says with a small shrug, and Peter’s face lights up. “Um, how though?”

“Uh well,” Peter looks around to make sure nobody’s looking and takes a step closer to her. He moves the sleeve of his shirt up, and MJ examines something that kind of looks like a wristband, with a button stretching to the middle of his palm. “I have these, web-shooters? That’s what I use to, you know, swing around.”

“Huh. So that stuff doesn’t come out of you then.”

“Ha, no it doesn’t,” he chuckles a little, shaking his head. “I made this.”

“That’s cool,” she tells him, and he beams at her like the cute dork he is. “I have questions by the way.”

“I bet you do,” he laughs, and she smirks at his reaction. “I have questions too, actually.”

“Yeah?”

Peter just nods. He looks around again, and MJ studies his focused frown as he does, with a tug of excitement in her belly. She does have a lot of questions about his spider-activities - among other things. “Alright I think we’re good, are you ready?”

The excitement turns into apprehension and MJ bites her lower lip, looking up at the ten stories hotel. “Um I guess? How are we doing this?”

“Can I…?” He gestures to her waist, and MJ figures he wants to hold her so she just nods, scared her voice would betray her if she speaks. Peter wraps his left arm around her and she settles against him, heart pounding in her chest. “You can uh, you can put your arms around my shoulders, if uh, you want?” She forcefully sighs at this, faking annoyance, and Peter chuckles, his laugh a little breathless when she eventually settles her arms around his shoulders. They’re really close now, and she can feel Peter’s eyes on her, sending shivers down her spine. She meets his puppy dog eyes and smiles, wondering if he can hear the pounding of her heart. “Hey,” he whispers, and she rolls her eyes in amusement.

“Hey to yourself, Parker,” she retorts with a smirk, and the dork chuckles again. She watches for a minute as he obviously gets sidetracked by their proximity, then lightly pats his left shoulder. “So?”

“Right sorry,” Peter makes a face, and it’s hard not to chuckle, “ready?” She nods. “Okay, hold on tight!”

He aims at the side of the building with his web-shooter, and MJ barely has time to tighten her grip around his shoulders that he’s hauling them up in the air without the slightest hint of effort. She holds her breath, shocked at the sudden sensation of going up. She’s pretty sure she’s left her stomach on the sidewalk, but this thought has barely crossed her mind that her feet softly hit solid ground again, and she stumbles against Peter, heart pounding.

She unconsciously pressed her face in the crook of his neck while they were in the air, so she takes a step back, cheeks burning, but Peter doesn’t immediately let go of her arm. She sees the frown of worry on his cute face and she lets out a nervous chuckle, looking around her to try and calm down her stupid heart. They’re standing at the top of the building, overlooking the city. She can see the _Philharmonie_ and the _Cité_ _des_ _Sciences_ from here, and the Eiffel Tower’s lights in the far distance. It’s a pretty nice view.

“Wow okay,” she lets out, a little breathless still. “That’s, _practical_ I guess.”

“We should definitely go for a swing when we get home,” Peter says with enthusiasm, and despite being pretty sure all this is _not_ for her – her heart is still pounding in her chest and they were in the air for just a few seconds, so swinging in Manhattan? Kind of terrifying really – MJ cannot help her smile.

“Sure,” she shrugs, and she’s rewarded with a beaming smile from Peter, so she figures it’s all worth it. She sits down in the middle of the flat roof, leaning on her hands and crossing her legs at the ankles, and he sits next to her without a second thought. She lets her gaze wander around the dark and slightly orange sky that’s fairly similar to the one back home. Too bad they cannot see stars from here. She would love to go stargazing with Peter someday.

Oh wow she’s being very cheesy. _Yikes_.

“You okay?”

MJ glances at Peter and meets his warm eyes, and she wonders if there’s ever been medical records of melting hearts before, because it really feels like it right now. She sits up a little, wrapping her arms around her knees. “Yeah,” she nods quietly, “this is nice.”

“It is,” Peter agrees with a grin. They stare at each other for a little while, and then his eyes move to her hand, then to his hands that are resting on his thighs. She wonders if he maybe wants to hold her hand. She’d have to move to make that happen, she’s not really in a good position for hand holding right now. How can she not make it too obvious that she’s moving just so he can take her hand though? Oh crap now she’s freaking out a little. So much logistics, _ugh_.

Peter is fidgeting with the cuffs of his shirt, and she jumps at the occasion to stop pondering on stupid things. “So you made these?” she asks casually, pointing to his web-shooters.

“Yeah,” he nods with a smile, pulling the sleeve up and she scoots closer to take a look, ignoring the small rush in her heart when she grabs his wrist. “The webs, too,” Peter adds after a little while, “I experiment in Chemistry.”

MJ wonders if that means he’s the one behind that explosion back in Freshman year, but she doesn’t ask. It was almost 2 and a half years ago, why would she remember that right?

“Hey so how about we play a little game,” Peter suggests, bringing her back to reality, and she raises an interrogative eyebrow at that. “Like, I ask you question, then it’s your turn, then my turn again etc?”

She narrows her eyes at him just for the sake of it, and the nerd has the decency to look a little nervous. She wonders if she’s ever gonna grow tired of messing with him or not. “Depends on what you want to ask me,” she says after a moment, and Peter grins like he expected her to say something like this.

“I’m mainly curious about how you figured out that I was Spider-Man,” he explains with a shrug, and MJ feels her cheeks flush a little. This is probably not a good idea. If she doesn’t play this smart he’s gonna figure out she’s kind of been obsessing over him ever since she first saw him back in Freshman year. That’s not good, right? But it’s not as if she’s had a crush on him since the very first day anyway, well, at least not really. She was just… curious, for a long time. That’s okay, right? _Oh whatever, let’s just not overthink anything right now._

“Okay.”

“Cool,” Peter smiles, and her stupid heart skips a beat.

“I’ll start,” she decides, thinking it will be good to regain some sense of control, and he nods with an amused grin. “How did you get your powers?”

“Bitten by a spider,” he answers instantly, “since when do you know?”

MJ frowns, glancing at him with narrowed eyes. “I’m not satisfied with this half-ass answer,” she informs him and he smirks, “and I've known since a little after DC.”

“Damn it,” Peter curses, and it’s MJ’s turn to smirk. “I really suck at this secret identity thingy, how–”

“Shut up Parker it’s my turn,” she cuts him, ignoring his half-offended, half-amused look as she waves her hand in his face. “What kind of spider?”

This time he actually takes a second to think. “I’m not sure,” he starts, hesitating a little. “It was during that field trip to the Oscorp Tower in Freshman year, this weird red and blue spider bit me on the hand and next thing I knew, _voilà_.” He gestures at himself with a grin, and she rolls her eyes.

“Huh, so around the same time you stopped wearing glasses then,” she says without thinking, just to instantly regret her words as Peter gives her a curious look.

“You remember I used to wear glasses?” he asks, and he’s smiling a little, staring intently at her with his stupid puppy dog eyes.

“No,” she lies easily, heart pounding in her chest, before pressing: “come on, your turn.”

“That was my question actually,” Peter retorts with a smug look that has her groan.

She sighs exasperatedly, but he doesn’t look away, waiting for her to answer. “Yes, I do remember,” she mumbles after a while, avoiding his eyes. “I figured you stopped wearing them because you got lenses, but it must have been the spider then.” She shrugs, mindlessly kicking a tiny rock away. Hopefully Peter doesn’t think it’s weird that she’s noticed all this – and still remembers it too. Damn it, quick, change the subject. “What else did it give you?” she asks, turning to face him with raised eyebrows. “These things?” She flicks his bicep with a smirk, and is delighted to see Peter blush instantly.

“Mhm, yeah among other things,” he nods sheepishly, running his fingers through his hair, and she wonders if he’s flexing on purpose or not. Dork. “What was the biggest giveaway?”

“ _Hey_ ,” she exclaims with a frown, “that answer sucked! I asked you what else that spider gave you, you can’t just say ‘yeah among other things’ that’s not even an answer.”

“You asked me what it gave me and _then_ you asked me if it gave me this,” he retorts with a smirk, pointing to his arms. “Technically that was two questions so _I_ should be the one complaining here.”

MJ opens her mouth in surprise, staring at his satisfied grin. She must admit she’s kind of impressed. This is definitely not something he would have dared saying a week ago. Then again, a week ago they barely even _talked_ to each other, so there’s that. This really is an amazing development, she thinks. “You’re playing me, Parker,” she accuses with a frown, and the idiot has the audacity to actually laugh at that.

“Am I?” he retorts, all innocent in the face, and her heart leaps in her chest for no reason. They stare at each other for a minute, Peter’s smile slowly fading but the amusement still apparent on his face, and MJ tries not to dwell on the sudden urge she gets to kiss him. Hopefully they’ll get to that soon enough, but she still needs her answer.

“There wasn’t any big giveaway, apart from DC, more like a trail of bread crumbs really,” she finally says with a shrug, and Peter grins. “What other enhancement did you get thanks to that spider bite?” she then enunciates before he can say anything, and his smile widens at that. _Ugh_ , what a cute dork.

“Um, let me see…” He tilts his head, tapping his finger on his chin a few times like he’s thinking, and she doesn’t even try to fight her eye roll – which in return makes him chuckle, obviously. “Well, I’m very strong, I got this super sense that alerts me when there’s danger nearby, my senses are enhanced, my healing factor is pretty OP, I’m more agile and quite fast too, and uh yeah I’m sticky.”

MJ bites her lip to prevent her chuckle. That’s so Peter to describe it like this. ‘ _I’m sticky_. _What an idiot’_ , she thinks, and then for some reason her brain suggests something else: ‘my _idiot’,_ and oh wow that’s just… very distracting. “Huh, so the suit isn’t the one that makes you climb on buildings and stuff?” she asks, desperately needing to think about something else.

“Nope, that’s all me,” Peter says, and there might be a small hint of pride in his voice that she might find a little cute, alright she admits it. “And you asked two questions.”

He’s looking at her pointedly, and her heart rate quickens instantly. “Well,” she says confidently, and she honestly has no idea how she manages it because she doesn’t really feel confident at all right now, “you must really like me then, since you still answered.”

She likes the smile that Peter gives her at that. It’s small and a little shy, and the tips of his ears redden a little too, but his gaze is intense and fixed in hers, and she thinks she wouldn’t be able to look away even if she wanted too – which she doesn’t, at all. “Yeah I do,” he says quietly, and a shiver runs down her spine.

They’re facing each other now, both cross-legged with their knees touching. When Peter starts to lean in, MJ isn’t surprised in the slightest. Actually, she might have started to lean in at the same time too, but she’s not sure. Their lips meet in a soft kiss, and MJ’s heart dances in her chest as they do. It’s slow and cozy, and she smiles in it a little, and so does he, which is definitely a very nice feeling. It doesn’t last very long but it’s okay, she thinks, they have time.

“That’s cool,” she tells him with half a (fake) casual shrug, and she’s pretty sure he knows just from the color of her cheeks that she’s bluffing. He did mention enhanced senses, so maybe he can even hear her pounding heart. She would feel embarrassed about it, except she realizes she really doesn’t, and it’s a great feeling. “Alright, your turn.”

“Right,” he nods with a small smile, running his fingers through his hair again, and MJ thinks about doing it too. “Do you think anybody else’s figured it out?” he asks after a few seconds of thinking.

She stops to think about it for a minute, under Peter’s kind of worried gaze. It is a good question. “No I don’t think so,” she says after a while, and he lets out a small relieved sigh that makes her grin. “I mean, it’s not like anybody really pays attention to you.” He obviously pouts at that like the cute dork he is, with a small ‘ _ouch_ ’ for dramatic purposes, so she adds, glancing down at her hands then up at him again: “Except for me.”

His eyes light up instantly at this, and damn this cute idiot really. “Aw thanks.” They stay quiet for a little while, then Peter asks quietly: “Do you have another question?”

_Or can we make out already?_ MJ thinks to herself, chuckling internally. The last part is kind of implied by Peter’s intense gaze again, but he’s obviously too polite – or shy – to say it, and it endears him to her even more. She didn’t think it was possible, to be honest. “I do actually,” she says after a second, “why did you chose to become a superhero?”

She did not expect him to lose his smile so instantly at that. He bites his lip, looking down at his hands that are now clamped together, and she feels her heart clench in her chest. He’s suddenly so tensed, and she has no idea why, but when she opens her mouth to say something he beats her to it. “Well I, I can do all these things, and they’re pretty impressive but,” he’s not looking at her, scratching the nail of his left thumb, “when I don’t, and bad things happen, well it’s my fault.” He takes a deep breath, then glances at her, and his eyes are sad, but he still gives her a small smile. “Because I could’ve done something to prevent them from happening you know?”

There’s something else he doesn’t say, she can feel it, but she doesn’t pry. They’ve got time, she thinks. There are still so many things she wants to tell him, so many things she wants to know about him – she’s barely even scratched the surface she thinks, especially since her questions were mostly about Spider-Man tonight. Spider-Man is cool, but she likes Peter Parker more.

“Well I’m glad you took that decision,” she tells him, sliding her hands in his, and he looks up with surprised, grateful eyes. “Pretty impressive for a nerd like you.”

Peter snickers at that, shaking his head with an amused smile. He presses her hands in his, and MJ feels her heart go flying in her chest. “Is it my turn?” he asks quietly, and she already knows what he’s gonna ask even before he does.

“Yeah.”

“Can I kiss you again?”

“Yes.”

And so he does. And it feels cozy, and it feels warm, and his lips are soft and sweet against hers. They move slowly and quietly, and it’s alright. Because they’ve got time.

They’ve got all the time in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I could have ended things here, but I have a little idea for an epilogue (wink wink Machiavelien ;)) so that's what chapter 26 is gonna be! I don't know for sure when it's gonna be up though, don't expect it too soon because I have one million things to do right now yikes plus with everything happening it's kinda hard to write I must be honest...  
> It really is bittersweet for me that we're almost at the end of this fic, it's been such an amazing ride with all of you guys ♥ I can't thank you all enough for this :)


	26. Sara Perché Ti Amo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The epilogue of our fluffiest story :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it guys, this story's last chapter! It's based on a playlist prompt challenge on my tumblr where I got this amazing song, _Sara Perché Ti Amo _by Ricchi & Poveri, and came up with this little idea, hope you like it :D special thanks to Machiavelien for pointing out how this could be a great epilogue for this fic! :D __

**Epilogue**

**Sara Perché Ti Amo**

“Move your butt Parker or I’m leaving without you!”

“Just a second!” Peter jumps the last four steps and rushes to the door, sliding the little box in his backpack just before he makes it outside. He stops on the front porch, meeting MJ’s blank stare with a wide grin. She’s holding the door to the car Tony sent for them, impatiently tapping her foot on the sidewalk, and a warm wave of something crashes through Peter’s heart at this beautiful sight. God, he’s so lucky. “I’m here, I’m here,” he tells her when she raises an eyebrow at him. He looks left and right to make sure no one is looking then slides down the railing in one swift move and lands next to MJ with a ridiculous flourish of his arms.

She scoffs, pretending to be annoyed, but he knows she’s more amused than anything. He gets into the car, greeting the driver and setting his backpack down at his feet. He kicks it for good measure, making sure the little squared box falls to the bottom. MJ would never go through his stuff, but she’s observant. He’s not taking any chance. He’s planned everything. It worked pretty well last time, in his opinion.

MJ sits next to him and shuts the door, and the car takes off in the early afternoon Queens traffic. It’s not that bad. They still have time before boarding their plane anyway. Peter reflects back on how nervous he’d been, almost ten years ago now, concocting his plan to sit next to the girl he liked on the plane on their way to Venice. Hoping with all he had that she liked him too. Which she did – and still does. He really did hit the jackpot, he thinks.

Glancing at her, Peter watches her look outside the window for a little while. She’s absentmindedly playing with the cuffs of her jacket, and his heart leaps in his chest at the sight of her slender fingers. He cannot believe he’s doing this. They’ve talked about it a lot, marriage. It’s been a recurrent subject for the last couple of months. He’s not even sure who first brought it up, it all kind of made sense somehow. She’s not a big fan of the whole wedding thing, like a piece of paper could change anything about their lives really, but she still told him she wanted all this if only just because it was with _him_.

And that’s pretty much all he needed. Her green light, in a way. His heart pounds excitedly just at the thought.

“You would never.”

MJ turns her attention to him, her brown eyes still a little distant, like she’d been lost in her mind, and he wonders what she was thinking about. “Uh?”

“Leave without me,” Peter supplies, and she snorts.

“Ha! Is that a challenge?” she retorts, leaning towards him just a little with a confident smirk.

“May I remind you I’ve got your headphones in there,” Peter tells her, nodding to his backpack with a grin, “so nope, not a challenge, you just cannot ditch me.”

“I can always find myself another headphones bearer you know.”

“One as good looking as me? I doubt it.”

“You’re such a dork,” she scoffs fondly, shaking her head with a small grin that makes his heart jump in his chest. They’ve been together for almost ten years, and somehow she still takes his breath away more often than not. He loves it. He loves that she still throws him off, no matter how well he thinks he knows her. He loves that, despite how comfortable they’ve grown around each other – especially the last couple of years since they’re finally living together – she still makes him blush sometimes, or has his heart pounding in his chest with barely a few words or even just a small look. He loves how being with her challenges his views of the world, he loves how inherently happy he feels every time their gazes meet.

“I am,” Peter nods seriously, staring deep into her eyes and hoping she can feel everything he’s thinking. He would love to tell her all this – he has, multiple times in the course of their relationship – but maybe _this_ is not the right place. So he settles for something a little lighter, more suitable for a cab ride to the airport. Just for now. “I’m your dork.”

They’re really close now, and when she rolls her eyes just a little he glances down at her mouth. The corners of her lips are perking up just a little, and he wants nothing else than to kiss them so he leans a little closer again. Her light grin morphs into a smirk and she shakes her head, obviously guessing his intention. “Yeah you are,” she lets out quietly, and then closes the distance between them.

Her lips taste like the pineapple sorbet she had for dessert at lunch – she said she had to accustom her stomach to eating _gelato_ , since they were heading to Venice of all places, which he could only agree with –, and Peter’s heart leaps happily in his chest once again.

**x**

Michelle Jones has a plan.

In her opinion, it’s a pretty good plan. She’s been over the details hundreds of times in her mind. She even considered running it with Betty or May, but then she chose not too, deeming the risks too high that the information would leak and somehow Peter would hear about it. Another thing she’d had to worry about, her stupid boyfriend’s super hearing, which meant no discussion over the phone or anything. Peter would never listen to any of her conversations intently, she knows it, but still, that dork is something. He kind of is one who would accidentally eavesdrop on someone and then feel bad about it.

So it’s a plan no one knows about. It’s scary, but MJ figures it’s a good thing. A surprise for everyone. Including Peter. Oh, she cannot wait to see his face when she’s gonna ask him. He was the one who arranged everything last time, with the black Dahlia necklace and the Eiffel Tower. She’s seen the list, a few years back. He wanted to tell her how he felt, and hoped she felt the same way. Now she’s gonna give him something too, and ask him a simple question. She’s rehearsed everything – very, _very_ quietly, at home, one time Peter had to leave to do some Avengers stuff with Tony.

Everything is ready, the flight has been booked for months, taking them back to Venice, where it all started. She’s found a ring, she knows the words by heart – not that they’re complicated or anything, she’s good with words anyway, but then again they might be the scariest words she’s ever had to pronounce in her life. But it’s okay. She’s gonna tell them to _Peter_. She wants to tell them to him. She wants all this, and more, with _him_. Just thinking about it her heart swells in her chest and she almost feels the urge to cry – happy tears, very happy tears.

“Hey MJ.”

She looks up from her book to catch Peter’s grin. He hands her a muffin then sits down next to her while they wait to board their plane. She can feel his eyes on her as she takes a smile bite of delicious chocolate and mouths a ‘thanks’ that makes him chuckle. He takes a sip from his orange drink – how he can drink that, she has no idea – then leans back on his seat with a small, relaxed sigh.

“So,” he starts, fiddling with the cap of his drink. “Who do you plan on sitting next to in the plane?”

MJ closes her eyes for a second, barely holding back her chuckle. He’s such a dork. “What’s it to you?” she retorts, and when she glances at him his eyes twinkle with an amusement she knows she’s mirroring. Those are the words that started it all, almost ten years ago now. She’s pretty thankful Peter could muster the courage to say them back then. She knows he is, too.

“Wanna sit next to me?” he asks, nudging her lightly, barely holding back his wide smile.

She bites her lower lip, pretending to think, then shrugs. “Yeah whatever.”

Peter doesn’t reply anything, lacing his fingers with hers. They stare at each other for a minute, and MJ’s mind flies over the Atlantic, thinking about all the new things they’re gonna discover in Venice, together. Last time they were there, they were dancing around each other like two idiots – she still thinks it’s pretty funny that things could have happened earlier if it weren’t for Peter’s undying will to go through with his plan.

Now this time she’s the one with a plan. With a ring, a question, and a promise.

And it’s the most wonderful feeling in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may have noticed, this is an open ending, because I love the idea of writing about MJ and Peter in an established relationship and maybe I'll make this a series and write about their trip back to Venice one day. Would you guys be interested? :D If I do it'd probably be in a couple of months at best though, I kind of have a lot going on right now xD
> 
> In any case, let me say it one last time: thank you all so much for your amazing support, for all the kudos and the comments, thank you to everyone who's subscribed, who found me on tumblr, and to all the silent readers too, I see you in the hits this story gets and honestly I feel so lucky and thankful for you guys ♥
> 
> I love you all 3000
> 
> (I'm not crying, u are 😭😭)

**Author's Note:**

> Don't forget to comment! ;)
> 
> Come be friends with me on Tumblr, @eowima :D


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